Penguin Beach

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Species
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Penguin Cam
Meet the Penguins

There are p-p-plenty of penguins at ZSL London Zoo in our stunning Penguin Beach exhibit – England’s biggest penguin pool!

Penguin Beach recreates a South American beach landscape in the heart of London, with stunning colony of Humboldt penguins.

The new exhibit features a large pool with stunning underwater viewing areas so you can see how our flippered friends fly under water. The exhibit’s 1200 sq metre pool holds 450,000 litres of water!

Our large demonstration area turns feeding time in to an even bigger spectacle than before. Penguin Beach Live will feature twice daily feeds where visitors can watch the birds diving for their food.

Penguin Beach is a breeding facility for colonies of Humboldt penguins with a special penguin nursery, including a chick incubation unit and a pool where the youngsters can learn how to swim.

Penguin Facts

Humboldt penguins love cleaning (preening) themselves and their friends. When preening they gather oil from a gland in their tail and then apply this to their feathers – like penguin hair gel!

Humboldt penguins never chew with their mouth open because they don’t chew at all! Instead our penguins swallow their fish head first.

A Humboldt penguin can reach up to 30 miles per hour in the water!

Our resident Rockhopper penguin, Ricky, moved to our sister site ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in March 2017 to find love. Take a trip to ZSL Whipsnade Zoo to visit him and meet his new pool buddies.

Meet the Penguins

Get up close to our penguins at ZSL London Zoo!

Book online

Find out more about the inhabitants of Penguin Beach

Penguin (Humboldt)

Catch a glipse of our amazing Penguin Beach exhibit.

Videos

Feeding time for hungry penguin...

Find out what happens at feeding time for our very demanding yet totally adorable penguin chicks.

Puddle the penguin chick goes for first swim in the training pool at ZSL London Zoo

Puddle the penguin chick has...

Puddle the penguin chick has swimming lessons.

A baby humbolt penguin chick sits on a blanket at ZSL London Zoo's Penguin Beach

Prima-donna penguin chick born...

Adorable penguin chick is already proving to be a bit of a demanding diva.

A close-up of a humboldt penguin at ZSL London Zoo.

Ask A Keeper - Penguins

Our expert penguin keeper Zuzana answers your questions on penguins.

Penguins predict summer is on...

Can penguins predict the start of summer?

Behind the scenes - working at...

Behind the scenes with Lead Explainer - Ruth Thomas.

Why do penguins waddle?

Our penguins are helping scientists find out how their famous waddle evolved.

Tune in to this live underwater stream of ZSL London Zoo's Penguin Beach to watch our Humbolt penguins whizzing through the water.

Feeding time is at 11.30, 13.30 and 16.30 BST

Get up close and personal with our family of Humboldt penguins with a special Meet the Animals experience at the Zoo.

Head out onto Penguin Beach and meet our colony of Humboldt Penguins watch them as they swim and come over to say hello! Hosted by an expert keeper, you'll be able to ask all your questions about these amazing animals, find out if all species of penguins live in cold climates, what makes them a unique bird and how fast they can swim.

By taking part in this experience you will be supporting ZSL’s vital conservation work which includes programmes for amazing birds just like these, whose futures are threatened due to habitat loss and climate change.

Be one of a few to get the opportunity to get close to our Penguin Beach residents, something you'll certainly never forget!

Your experience

Meet and greet with our colony of Humboldt penguins
Discover more about this beautiful species
Opportunity to ask our expert keeper questions about the colony
Meet the Penguins takes place at 1.50pm
Please be at the meeting point at 1.45pm, located at the VIP area at Penguin Beach.

BOOK NOW

Please be aware we are unable to offer this experience during August and September as this is our penguin's moulting season.

Restrictions

Participants must be over 8 years old
Children aged between 8 and 16 years old must be accompanied by a full paying adult (maximum of 2 children per adult) each person including adults must have a valid Meet the Penguins ticket
General admission ticket or valid membership per person must be purchased to be allowed entry into the zoo and take part in the Meet the Penguins experience. Why not take a look at our gift packs which include entry and a Meet the animals experience for 2!
Participants with learning or visual impairment are welcome on the experience and must be accompanied by a carer who takes full responsibility for them. Accompanying carers can enter the VIP area free of charge but won't be able to participate in the experience. Please contact info@zsl.org if you are planning on bringing a carer onto the experience.
Wheelchair accessibility is available for this experience we do ask that you make us aware if you require wheelchair access by emailing info@zsl.org
Pregnant/ nursing mothers who have given birth within the previous six months cannot participate for health and safety reasons.

Price:

Meet the Penguins: £54 per person excluding entry - £125 for 2 including entry

Times:

Starts at 13:45pm the experience will last between 15-20mins

Location:

ZSL London Zoo is located in the north east corner of Regents Park.

When attending the zoo for your experience meet the penguins takes place on Penguin Beach area located in the Barclay Court area of the zoo next to the Butterfly exhibit.

Frequency:

Meet the Penguins is available all year round except the Penguins moulting season which is August and September months. The experience is available Mon-Sun all other months. The experience isn't available on Christmas Day.

Buy now:

The perfect gift for the animal lover in your life! Purchase a gift voucher (valid a year from purchase) or book directly onto a date here

More information

Read terms and conditions

Find out about ZSL Whipsnade Zoo Meet the animals