African Penguin and Prehensile-Tailed Skink Babies at Marine Life, West Edmonton Mall

elliot-the-prehensile-tailed-skink

Two new animals in Marine Life: Nina, an African penguin and Elliot, a prehensile-tailed skink.

 
Nina, the two-month old African penguin, is the fourteenth to be hatched at WEM and the first female to hatch in the colony in nineteen years. She was born to mom Channel (24) and dad Lekkers (17) on November 12, 2016. Lekkers also hatched in Marine Life at West Edmonton Mall in 1999.

As of January, Nina is beginning to venture out of her parents’ territory and explore her habitat with the other nineteen African penguins that call Marine Life home.

Elliot was born on December 28, 2016, to mom Cora and dad Sol, and is the very first prehensile-tailed skink to be born at Marine Life. Unlike the majority of reptiles which are hatched from eggs, Prehensile-
tailed skinks give live birth. Newborn skinks are also large compared to their mothers; the former curator of reptiles at the Philadelphia Zoo, Dr. Kevin Wright, compared it to “a human mother giving birth to a six year-old”. Elliot is healthy and is in a habitat with its parents, but cannot be seen until it is a little older.

nina-the-african-penguin

Marine Life, is a member of Canada’s Accredited Zoos and Aquariums. Located in West Edmonton Mall, Marine Life, is home to two distinct attractions – Sea Life Caverns & Sea Lions’ Rock. Marine Life is an underground aquarium that is home to more than 100 species of fish, sharks, sea turtles, penguins, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, while Sea Lion’s Rock is famous for its four California sea lions, that perform daily.

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