Flop has found her waddle again!

As the saying goes - great minds think alike! I had this post in draft ready to publish on the 2nd December but Janice at 'Jabblog' beat me to it! She posted news about Flop on the 1st December. However, it is such a heart-warming story I thought I would still post it on this blog - just wait a week or two - and in a more recent update there has also been news of Flop in Canada too, because apparently the Zookeepers in England used the technique that helped a Toronto penguin with a similar illness, more on that can be read here

If you haven't already seen this story, or even if you have, I hope you enjoy it ... personally I like stories like this, and the video I link to below is highly recommended.

How Flop the penguin learned to walk

Keepers at Dudley Zoo have helped a little penguin to learn to waddle again.

Flop the Humboldt penguin hatched in April but lost her ability to stand after an infection and became very poorly.

Zoo staff saved her life by making a special baby bouncer especially designed to keep Flop upright - particularly at feeding time.

Thanks to this, some penguin physiotherapy and a lot of hard work from Flop and friends she has now healed well enough to get back on her feet.

Keepers even made a penguin treadmill and adapted a baby walker to help her find her waddle again.

photo credit - Dudley Zoo

It took Flop about a month to build enough strength to rejoin the other young penguins in the colony.

The bird will eventually return to the main colony, although keepers say she will always be smaller than the others.

In a statement, Dudley Zoo said: "Flop, our very special penguin has found her waddle and we can’t wait to watch how she adapts to any challenges that come her way in the future."
There is a lovely video here of Flop, she really is a cutie.

Words above from story seen here

All the best Jan