Pool leaks force Edinburgh Zoo to farm out penguins Published on Thursday 1 March 2012 16:08 EDINBURGH Zoo suspended its popular penguin parade today and announced urgent moves to farm out two-thirds of its penguins to other zoos after leaks were found in the penguin pool. Zoo bosses will begin moving the flightless birds to zoos in England, Denmark and Ulster when work to drain the pool begins tomorrow. They hope to have the pool upgraded and ready again for this summer, but some 50 of the penguins will never return. Hugh Roberts, Chief Executive of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, the charity which owns and manages Edinburgh Zoo, said the penguin enclosure would be the focus of "an intensive maintenance and upgrade programme." He said the first stage would involve allowing the outdoor penguin pool to drain naturally, which will take around five weeks He said: "Our penguin enclosure has been an iconic aspect of Edinburgh Zoo for many years. The existing pool has served our large colony of King, Gentoo and Rockhopper penguins extremely well for 20 years, and to ensure it continues to do so in the future, we need to carry out maintenance work. We are losing water from the pool every day, which is totally harmless, but costly for us as a conservation charity. The natural draining method will allow us to identify where exactly the water is coming from and will facilitate an accurate assessment by specialist engineers. The work will mean that the penguin colony will need to be split up for a short time. The relocation process will take up to two weeks, with some penguins -- a third -- remaining at Edinburgh Zoo and others being re-homed in other zoos. Edinburgh Zoo will retain 12 pairs of Gentoos penguins, carefully selected after genetic analysis. Established pairs of penguins are also being kept together. Zoos in Belfast and Odense in Denmark will get 25 Gentoos each, which will return after the work is complete. The other 50 Gentoo birds are leaving the collection, which is "part of the normal cycle of breeding and distribution to other zoos," according to Mr Roberts. All Rockhopper penguins will remain at Edinburgh, including 12 new birds that recently arrived from Vienna Zoo. They will move into the sea duck enclosure by the big cat walkway, an area normally used for penguin quarantine. Ultimately they will be housed in the former sea lion enclosure at the main entrance to the zoo. Edinburgh Zoos six King Penguins - including Sir Nils Olav - will travel to a new temporary home at Birdland in Gloucestershire. All six will return to Edinburgh. Head penguin keeper Colin Oulton said: "We have considered the impact of this work upon our visitors, and although there will be no penguin parade, there will still be a daily penguin talk. There will never be a perfect time to carry out the upgrade, however we have carefully deliberated timings. "Our decision to commence work now is based upon there being a window before breeding season begins in a few weeks" time and its always preferable to move penguins in cooler months. Our penguins are all going to zoos with dedicated facilities and it goes without saying that they will be extremely well cared for. We look forward to completing work on our outdoor penguin pool and to the summer when our colony is back together again.