Animals

Penguins watch Elf to prepare for human visitors after lockdown


The penguins had a great time watching the Christmas classic Elf (Picture: PA)

Penguins are being shown Christmas films at the London Aquarium to prepare them for guests when the lockdown ends.

They were treated to a showing of the iconic film Elf ahead of the aquarium’s big reopening on Wednesday.

The gentoo penguins have been without their regular flow of human visitors since the aquarium closed for a month-long lockdown on November 5.

Aquarist Leah Pettitt said they are always looking for innovative ways to keep their animals entertained but 2020 has presented ‘more challenges than most’ in keeping the penguins engaged.

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The aquarium is hoping the Christmas films will prepare them for an influx of human visitors (Picture: PA)
Televisions were put up outside the penguin enclosure (Picture: PA)

‘We’ve had to get creative,’ she said.

She added: ‘It’s great to see how much our gentoo penguins are enjoying the Christmas movies we’ve put on for them.

‘We know that they watch and listen to our visitors just as much as the visitors enjoy watching the penguins.

The London Aquarium won top marks for creativity (Picture: PA)
‘Oooh I love this part’ (Picture: PA)

‘Whilst they are enjoying these festive films, they’re still, just like us, very much looking forward to our real-life guests returning this week.’

The film screenings are taking place at Sea Life centres across the UK as part of their ‘enrichment processes’.

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