It’s a hard life being a penguin chick. Born into an icy world where temperatures plunge to -40C with wind speeds up to 89mph, the youngsters must fend off predatory giant petrels from the air and leopard seals in the sea.
Perhaps that is why these three are so exhausted. They belong to a colony near Snow Hill Island along the Antarctic Peninsula, which was first visited by humans only five years ago.

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Penguins are cute, yes they are!
They walk funny, they don’t fly, they are like torpedoes in water and we also learned recently that they can have *Happy Feet* :)LOL

The newly shod bird, is one among 18 “second chance” penguins living at the moment at the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch in New Zealand. The 18 lucky one are penguins called blue (or fairy penguins). They were adopted from Marineland in Napier, located in New Zealand. There, they rescue sick or injured marine animals and sends the ones that can’t return to the wild to live at regional animal centers where they are welcomed.

Not long after their September arrival in Christchurch, some of the penguins started to develop calluses on their feet, which could have led to infections. Calluses are common for penguins in captivity because the seabirds, which normally spend most of their time at sea, feeding, occasionally get lazy and spend a bit too much time waddling on land.

International Antarctic Center director Richard Benton said in a press release:”When the penguins arrived … some developed sore feet, and this has proved quite tricky for us to treat,” .

So the center’s staff began a strict treatment regime, including saltwater foot baths, ointment applications, and *fashion footwear design*. The special penguin shoes—available in blue and green,are tailored specifically for the little penguins and are made of material that breathes with light rubber soles.

Those fitted shoes made a great difference and dramatic improvement,said the expert, who also said that the penguins will only be wearing their pretty shoes for a very short time.”

Now they can have their *Happy Feet* back!