Meet the Penguins

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Nature Documentary hosted by Hugh Bonneville, published by ITV in 2015 - English narration

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Meet the Penguins In this one-off special, bird expert and enthusiast Adrian Walls fulfils a lifelong dream to see an endangered species of penguin in the wilds of Peru. Adrian, head of birds at ZSL London Zoo, has looked after penguins throughout his twenty-five years as a zookeeper, but he’s never seen them in their natural environment on the breath-taking Pacific coast of Peru in South America.

The penguins are under threat, and their numbers have dropped from 20,000 in the 1980s to just 5,000 in 2000. Now Adrian, who’s recently recovered from an operation on a life-threatening brain tumour, wants to see first-hand what’s being done to save one of nature's most charismatic - and his favourite - animals.

Adrian first travels to Parque de las Leyendas zoo, in the Peruvian capital Lima, which houses a colony of Humboldt penguins to see if he can pick up tips and share his knowledge. Experts explain the threats the penguins face from climate change and habitat destruction, as well as getting trapped in fishing nets and being taken as pets or to be eaten.

Then he drives seven hours south to see the Humboldt penguin’s natural habitat. His journey takes him through the coastal deserts of Peru to witness the daily struggles penguins face there. We see him visiting a marine rescue centre, getting caught in a bird storm of 250,000 cormorants and cradling a hatching egg in his hand as he witnesses the moment life starts for these very special birds. The journey climaxes at Punta San Juan, the most successful Humboldt penguin colony in Peru where Adrian is able to see thousands of these wild birds at very close quarters. Narrator Hugh Bonneville