Leopard Sharks Join Penguins at the All-new Conrad Prebys Africa Rocks
The San Diego Zoo has been home to hundreds of species of animals in its 101-year history. However, when 12 leopard sharks began moving into the all-new Conrad Prebys Africa Rocks (Wednesday, June 28, 2017), it marked the first time the Zoo has ever displayed sharks.
“We are very excited to have sharks on display in this new, beautiful aquatic habitat at Africa Rocks,” said Kim Lovich, curator of herpetology and ichthyology, San Diego Zoo. “We think our guests are going to enjoy seeing and learning about these fascinating animals. Our reptile team has been training for over a year to learn the skills necessary to care for the shark, and the saltwater pool in which they reside,” Lovich added. “We are grateful to SeaWorld San Diego for lending their expertise to our team, on the care of these animals.”
SeaWorld San Diego donated the leopard sharks to the Zoo and delivered them to the new Cape Fynbos habitat at Africa Rocks on Friday, June 23. Upon arrival, animal care specialists from both facilities carefully moved the sharks from their traveling containers into holding pools behind the scenes at the new habitat. To provide the sharks with the optimal opportunity to thrive, a keeper was with them in the pool initially, to ensure they were swimming properly and acclimating well to their new surroundings.
After being closely monitored for a few days, the sharks underwent thorough medical exams Monday, June 26. On Wednesday, June 28, animal care staff begin introducing the sharks into the 200,000-gallon seawater main pool, where they met their new pool mates: 20 African penguins.
“So far we have released ten shark into the exhibit pool. They appear to be doing very well, showing nice swim patterns and swimming in both the shallow and deep ends,” said Ben Nevitt, DVM, Associate Veterinarian, San Diego Zoo. “The penguins are showing a slight interest in the shark but both the penguins and shark appear to be settling in nicely together in their exhibit.”
Having penguins and sharks in the same habitat is an opportunity for Zoo guests to learn about the diversity of aquatic life, and that not all sharks are scary. Leopard sharks do not see penguins as a food source. They live in shallow waters and primarily feed on invertebrates at the bottom of the ocean—including crabs, shrimp, clams, and anchovies. There are many species of birds, sharks and mammals that share our oceans harmoniously.
Leopard sharks are not native to Africa, but are similar to species found in the waters where African penguins live. Leopard sharks are one of the most common sharks along the coast of California, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species lists the leopard shark as a species of Least Concern. The 12 sharks in the Cape Fynbos penguin habitat range in age from 5 to 20 years, and they average between 3 and 5 feet in length.
The Cape Fynbos penguin habitat in Africa Rocks features a cobblestone beach surface, penguin nesting areas and rockwork that mimics the granite boulders found at Boulders Beach in South Africa. The 70-foot-long and 10-foot-wide habitat includes a 200,000-gallon pool that stretches 170 feet, with depths up to 13 feet.
Visitors to the San Diego Zoo can see the leopard sharks swimming alongside the Zoo’s colony of endangered African penguins when the Cape Fynbos habitat at Conrad Prebys Africa Rocks opens July 1.
We like to watch all of the CAMS… we were curious about penguins and sharks together, and this article solves the mystery. Thanks. We LOVE to watch these webcams throughout the workday here in Anaheim.
In the new habitat, I’ve noticed some scuba divers. Are they inspecting the pool or doing some other work? It was funny, a couple of the penguins were leaning over from the edge of the habitat trying to watch the divers, as they were right along the edge, too.
Blog Monitor’s note: Those are keepers! Part of their job in caring for animals is to “service” the habitat on a regular basis (think: raking scooping droppings). The divers/keepers you see are those that care for the leopard sharks in the pool. They are spending time in the water getting familiar with the terrain, and checking things out in general. In the future, we hope to have talks from inside the pool. Watch for a ZOONOOZ article about this in September.
I paid a visit last week on the 15th. I have been watching the penguins on the cam from work during my lunch time. It is a wonderful exhibit but I asked one of the volunteers if there was really a plan to have up ton 150 penguins in such a small place. She said yes, but didn’t know how it would be accomplished. Are penguins that social that they like closeness? It was a lot of fun to see them come so close to the glass to check visitors out. I love that you have name tags on all of them. The volunteer told me that males are tagged on the right (because males are always “right”). She was grinning, so I said “oh seriously?’ and we both laughed. I thought of something later–the brain hemispheres control the opposite side of the body so since females are tagged on their left it must mean that they are always “in their right minds”. (Ahem~!)
I visited the exhibit a second time later in the day and I could see the penguins beginning to find places on the beach. I did notice one of the sharks had a small scrape injury behind its left gill that looked fresh. There were no keepers or volunteers around, so I told someone at the nearby photo booth. It was probably nothing but I thought that it was something for the keepers to be aware of just in case one of the sharks is picking on others. Boys will be boys.
I can’t wait for the rest of the exhibit to open. I also love that bridge that will soon open! Boy will that save a lot of walking! Came by train, may have to do so again. But at least it’s easy!
They all look very content in that beautiful pool. The Leopard Sharks are beautiful and of course the penguins are adorable.