Dakota Zoo penguin entered into competition to spread awareness on conservation efforts

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - One penguin at the Dakota Zoo is getting a special spotlight.

Banks is the lucky guy and got entered by his zookeepers into a worldwide competition to spread awareness about conservation efforts for African Penguins.

Penguins from all over the world were submitted to be a part of the “March of the Penguin Madness” bracket.

Participants can vote on Penguins International’s website and learn about factors that make survival hard. The conservation agency wants to help spread awareness about what threatens the species.

“Penguins International is a penguin conservation agency. It’s one of our AZA partners. Just kind of spread awareness for all the species of penguins and how they need help and how there are a lot of factors going against these guys, but how zoos are also doing a lot of work to combat that,” said Adrianna Leiske, zookeeper at the Dakota Zoo.

She says some of the factors that make it challenging for them are climate change, human encroachment, guano harvesting and overfishing affecting their food source.

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