Social distancing is not exactly an ideal way for humans to live. But quarantine has been a downright boon for penguins. While people have been stuck indoors the adorable little birds have had been taking delightful little field trips. In Chicago, they got to run around their aquarium to visit their aquatic brethren. A few also got to roam their home in South Africa. And now some very lucky penguins in Kansas City got to leave their surroundings to enjoy a morning of refined culture usually reserved only for humans. They put on their finest tuxedos and headed out to their local museum.
And watching them peruse a collection of fine paintings and sculpture is art unto itself.
The Kansas City Zoo brought some of its Humboldt Penguins over to the nearby Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. (We first learned about it about at NPR.) It was part of the Zoo’s efforts to help entertain the adorable animals while it is closed due to COVID-19. Turns out they miss their human guests as much as we miss being able to go see them.
This “enrichment experience” designed “to stimulate their minds” also did the trick for us, too. We love museums. But we might love watching penguins tour one even more. Especially when they have such good taste.
“They seemed, definitely, to react much better to Caravaggio than to Monet,” said Julián Zugazagoitia, the museum’s executive director and CEO. Same, penguins. Same.
Although, we’re not even as refined as these delightful guests. Humboldt penguins come from Chile and Peru. And Zugazagoitia said they “really appreciated” learning about art history in Spanish.
Someone get these penguins to a Picasso exhibit immediately. And make sure you get lots of good footage of them for us. Social distancing is a lot easier for us to deal with when it means penguins get to go out more.
Featured Image: Kansas City Zoo
