Penguin swallows a cent - "drastic intervention" saves his life
Created: 08/06/2022, 2:30 p.m
By: Sina Lück
In the Frankfurt Zoo, penguin Tweety is in mortal danger because he swallowed a cent coin.
Now only emergency surgery can save him.
Frankfurt am Main (Hesse) – No smoking in animal houses, no feeding of animals, no taking of dogs: When visiting the zoo, there are a few rules to be observed.
A penguin in the Frankfurt Zoo has now painfully experienced that not everyone adheres to this rule.
In his stomach: a cent that puts his life in danger.
Penguin swallows a cent - "drastic intervention" saves his life
Eating fish, chasing through the water, bathing in the sun: Humboldt penguin Tweety actually prefers to spend time in the Frankfurt Zoo with his comrades.
But instead of being in the penguin tank, the bird is suddenly lying on the operating table.
And that's just because of a small cent coin that a visitor apparently carelessly tossed into the water beforehand.
When the animal later dives through the pool, it accidentally swallows the item.
The X-ray reveals: the coin in his stomach is quite dangerous for Tweety, the penguin urgently needs help.
A blockage in the stomach or intestines can quickly become fatal.
Therefore, the team decides to operate under anesthesia, in which the coin is removed with the help of a magnetic stick.
In Wuppertal Zoo, on the other hand, the grief for the lion "Massino" is great when he dies under anesthesia after an examination.
The X-ray image clearly shows the cent coin in the penguin's stomach.
© Facebook (Frankfurt Zoo)
Penguin swallows a cent coin - rules of conduct to protect the animals
After the initial shock, the animal keepers can finally breathe a sigh of relief: the little penguin was lucky again and survived the operation well.
"Tweety was saved by a drastic intervention and is now back with his fellows in the facility.
However, not all animals are so lucky when they swallow foreign bodies or unsuitable food," writes the Frankfurt Zoo on its Facebook page.
At the same time, the team reminds of the zoo regulations with the important rules of conduct that protect the health of the animals.
"We would like to emphasize once again that throwing objects at the facilities and feeding our animals are prohibited for good reason!"
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Penguin swallows a cent coin - people on the internet are angry
People online are angry about the visitor's carelessness.
They can't understand why some people don't follow the zoo's rules and endanger the animals' lives.
Here are a few comments on the Facebook post:
"😡 People are so thoughtless."
"Why are you doing this?
Somehow humanity is losing more brains every day.”
"I am horrified to remember the agonizing death of the poor hippopotamus who ate a tennis ball that some Otto had thrown into the pool."
"There are always unteachable idiots."
"People are getting stupider and stupider..."