KAANAPALI – The Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa held its first World Penguin Day celebration Monday for seven feathery animals that have become a favorite sight of resort guests.
Nearly 50 penguin enthusiasts gathered at the resort Monday morning to watch the first feeding of the day, decorate penguin-shaped cookies and snap photos with the resort’s giant penguin mascot as part of the festivities.
“Penguins in Hawaii. You’d never think that was possible,” said Kula resident Azalyn Weber, who along with her 11-month-old Ryder was seeing the resort’s penguins for the first time.
“It was most exciting for the adults,” she added with a laugh.
World Penguin Day is one of two international celebrations for the birds – the other is Penguin Awareness Day on Jan. 20.
African black-footed penguins, the species found at the Hyatt, are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature endangered list, said Karli Sullivan, the resort’s marketing manager.
“The fact that we’ve been able to reproduce six . . . penguins on our property now is a big reason why we’re still happy to have them on our property,” Sullivan said. “We feel like it’s a safe environment for them to reproduce. There’s a lot of factors in the wild that make it difficult for them to survive.”
Male penguins Oreo and George and female Waddles, all born in 1985, were brought to Hawaii not long after the Hyatt opened on the Kaanapali shorefront in 1980. Developer Christopher Hemmeter envisioned the 40-acre resort as a “paradise,” said wildlife supervisor Christina Sagadraca.
“He wanted to incorporate waterfalls, swinging bridges, animals and artwork, and condense it into one small space so that when visitors flew in to Hawaii, they could just be here and have everything around them,” Sagadraca said.
Nature is a primary focus of the hotel, Sullivan said. Along with penguins, there are swans, cranes, flamingos and parrots on the property. The Hyatt is the only hotel in Hawaii with penguins on-site, she added.
Sagadraca called it an unexpected “blessing” when George and Waddles had five babies from 2004 to 2009 – females Nahu, Mai and Tai, and males Buddah and Zen. Oreo and Nahu’s baby, Momi, hatched in 2009. Twins Mai and Tai are the youngest at 6 years old; Oreo is the oldest at 30.
The Hyatt describes the birds as “curious and social” penguins who like to sunbathe, dig burrows in the sand and bray like donkeys, which is how the species gets its nickname of the “jackass penguin.”
“It is great for the guests to learn about these types of penguins,” Sullivan said. “They’re not just for looks and the fun of it.”
While many associate penguins with frigid climates, African black-footed penguins are one of several species that thrive in warm environments, living primarily around South Africa and Namibia, according to the IUCN. Black and white with distinctly spotted bellies, they feed off herring, sardines and anchovies, and like to burrow nests in sand or seabird excrement.
Oil spills, human disturbance to eggs and nests and overfishing of penguin food sources have threatened the species, whose population has declined by 60.5 percent over the past 28 years, according to the IUCN. In 2009, the African black-footed penguin population was estimated at 75,000 to 80,000 globally.
In the wild, these penguins typically have a life expectancy of 20 years, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. When original Hyatt penguin George died in 2010, he was about 25. Waddles was around 28 when she died in 2013.
Although the penguins live on resort property, they are not domesticated, Sagadraca said. When feeding the penguins, she throws fish into the water so the penguins can dive, as is their natural habit. Feeding times have become popular with guests over the years. While the penguins “don’t mind human presence, in general,” Sagadraca, who’s been at her post for 16 years, said she’s noticed they’ve become hesitant to dive in after fish with so many people leaning over the bridge to watch.
“They’ll still do it, but they do it apprehensively,” she said.
Sagadraca said it’s difficult to limit the audience size in the hotel’s open lobby, but added that, during feeding times later in the day, the penguins are more relaxed and revert to their normal habits.
As for the future of the resort’s penguin population, most of the penguins are siblings, so the resort “would have to bring in more to mate with the current ones or start a new family tree,” Sullivan said. For now, “there’s no immediate plans to bring in additional ones.”
* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.
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