Students pick name for Rosamond Gifford Zoo’s baby penguin
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- It was a landslide! A group of first graders from All Saints School in Syracuse was asked to cast their votes on a name for a baby penguin born at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo.
They had three choices, but Magdelena was the favorite, hands down...or in this case, paddles up!
Officials say enthusiasm about the penguin population has helped raise visibility and popularity for the zoo.
“We did some surveying with our public to find out what would be a species that they would really engage with. It was between seals and penguins, initially, back in 2003. It was pretty overwhelmingly - in the end game - it was overwhelmingly the penguins that people wanted to see here and that worked for us,” said Ted Fox, Zoo Director.
Magdelena is the 36th chick to be hatched since the zoo launched its penguin project in 2006.