Penguins p-pack up their bags ready for new home

FOR six years they have been forced to entertain visitors from a small, unsuitable pool - but now London Zoo's penguins have been given a new home.

The zoo has been granted permission to create a new pool, dubbed Penguin Beach, which will allow the number of penguins to increase from 40 to 150.

It is part of a £2 million redevelopment of the Regent's Park zoo's Barclay Court area and will open in May, housing macaroni and Humboldt penguins from South America.

And the improvements will mean the penguins will be moved from the Flamingo Pool where they have been since 2004.

The penguins were moved there from their original home at the Grade II-listed Lubutkin Penguin Pool. But zoo bosses say the Flamingo Pool is not deep enough, has a lack of underground nest boxes and makes it hard for the penguins to get in and out.

The new Penguin Beach will be much bigger and deeper, with a surface tunnel and raised viewing platform for visitors to get a better look.

A spokeswoman said: "London Zoo's penguin pools have always played a significant part in the zoo's history and we are very excited about creating them an amazing home for their future."

Landscape designer James Aldridge said: "The new landscape will allow the visitors to experience the penguin's natural setting as much as is possible within an urban zoo."

The penguins will be sent to Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire while their new home is built.