The Odd Journey of a Penguin and His New Kicks

On this episode of Our American Stories, Enrique had lived a long, dignified life at the St. Louis Zoo when age finally caught up to his feet. Arthritis doesn’t care whether you’re human or penguin, and soon every step told his keepers something needed to change. What followed wasn’t a grand breakthrough so much as a series of small experiments that eventually pointed toward an idea no one expected — shoes. Marija Elden walks us through how an aging bird, some stubborn symptoms, and a whole lot of trial and error turned into one of the zoo’s most quietly charming success stories.

Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything on this show, and
we love your story. Send them to our American Stories
dot com. Here're some of our favorites. Today you're going
to hear from Maria Elvin. Maria is the zoological manager
of birds is Saint Louis Zooe. He'll be speaking on
behalf of Enrique, a thirty year old penguin with arthritis

(00:33):
who just so happens to wear shoes.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Enrique is a Southern rockhopper penguin and he is an
elderly bird. He's about thirty years old. Penguins tend to
live about fifteen years old.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
Penguins that live and zoos live a very cushy life.
He's just a gentle bird. He is really easy going.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
That's unlike rockoppers a little bit. Rockhoppers are very vivacious,
very in your face, but Enrique kind of has a
a softer side to him. He is quite the handsome
little bird. He's got a girlfriend and apparently, as we
found out this morning, another female liked what she saw,

(01:19):
so this morning he had two girlfriends. Enrique came to
Saint Louis Zoo in twenty sixteen, and he prior to
that had lived at Omaha Zoo. Zoos talked to each
other a lot, and before any zoo receives any animal,
there is a lot of communication. What does the animal like,

(01:41):
what does it not like, behaviors that are good and
maybe some that are not so good. And the veterinarians
also receive a lot of information about medical history. He
had signs of arthritis already at that point, and so
there was no surprise. We didn't just open a box
of penguins and see that one wasn't feeling well. We

(02:02):
knew what we were getting and we were prepared, and
that's super important with arthritis. You notice that they're slowing
down a little bit, maybe not coming up for food
just as fast, maybe wait for some of the more
spry neighbors to run up to the food first. And
our keepers are really well versed in not only general

(02:24):
bird behavior, but we hone in on the individuals too,
So when one is feeling off a little bit, we
know right away Enrique is an active swimmer, and that's great,
but we couldn't have any topical creams that alleviate some
of the arthritic pain. They will kind of rinse away,

(02:46):
so thinking outside the box can help us. I think
animal people are a special group of people where very
few things surprise us because we have to think outside
of the box so often. With humans, an arm is
an arm and a leg as a leg, but with
animals there's so much variation. Our veterinary team, who are

(03:11):
really great at coming up with all sorts of ideas,
found a company that makes little shoes for working dogs
and dogs that just need additional help after injuries. So
our vets were able to connect with that company. We
were able to trace and Riquet's feet and get measurements,
and the amazing people who can sew very well made

(03:34):
the shoes for him. The first time we put them on,
he kind of looked at his feet and looked at
us and then took off running. What the shoes do
is just to protect his feet and give a little
bit of extra padding for him. The original pair that
was sent, we found that he just needed a little

(03:56):
bit more cushion and it needed to give a little.

Speaker 3 (04:00):
Bit more grip.

Speaker 2 (04:01):
With rock copper penguins, their feet are very important. They
grip the rock as they're climbing up. But because we
just put shoes on him. He couldn't quite grip, so
we ended up receiving a second pair of shoes. Now
this pair of shoes was hot pink on the bottom
as opposed to the first set of shoes, which was
all black, But no one cared. A few just kind

(04:24):
of looked. Some kind of tried to come over and
check it out, but he would just tell him no.
He is very vocal and he bites. So once everyone
figured out, like, he's not gonna let you mess with
his shoes, he was good.

Speaker 3 (04:39):
He was golden. It has become such a routine.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
For him that he really doesn't mind, and it makes
little difference to his mate. So we do put them
on at about ten o'clock in the morning and take
them off at about three.

Speaker 3 (04:56):
His mate Paris, she just sees them.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
Go up and he comes back and she's like, okay,
this is great. Sometimes you'll see him with his wing
over her, which is very cute. It is nice that
he does get some time to just be a penguin.
We really take his behavior into account. We do know
that it does provide him with some comfort, just based

(05:18):
on the way that he stands. We keep track on
a weekly basis to make sure is he eating, is
he getting around? And what we have seen is that
he does swim with the boots on too, and that's
an important factor for penguins. Penguins should swim, and he
does still swim.

Speaker 3 (05:35):
He is still social with his mate. They preen each
other all.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
The time, and as long as he is doing those
things and having a good appetite, we know that he
is comfortable. Since we have tried this out, our veterinarians
have been in contact with a few other zoos who
asked us how it went, and they considered it for
some of their penguins. So the shoes are spreading. There

(06:02):
are a few other penguins that are getting some relief too.
The opportunities to enrich the lives of our animals are endless,
and it really takes a lot of innovation and collaboration
to continue to provide the best care for these animals.
It is great that the story is getting out about

(06:23):
Enrique and his shoes, but it is also such a
minor thing for us. We made him comfortable, and that
was our job. There are so many other things that
we do for our animals that maybe are just not
quite as visible, but also have.

Speaker 3 (06:37):
A big impact, and I just hope that.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
The story helps the guests that visit Saint Louis Zoo
see the dedication that we put into the care for
all of our animals.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
And beautiful production work by Madison on the piece, and
a special thanks to Maria Eldon, who is the zoological
manager of birds at the Saint Louis Zoo. And it's
a world class zoo. I spent many summers in my
life in Saint Louis and that was always one of
my favorite days. And I don't know many kids or
adults who don't love just visiting a zoo. If you
get to Saint Louis, by all means, visit this terrific zoo.

(07:14):
What a thing that Maria just said. We made him comfortable.
That's our job. Indeed, it is crafting a special pair
of shoes for a thirty year old arthritic penguin named Enrique.
That story here on Our American Stories Folks. If you
love the great American stories we tell and love America

(07:35):
like we do, we're asking you to become a part
of the Our American Stories family. If you agree that
America is a good and great country, please make a
donation a monthly gift of seventeen dollars and seventy six
cents is fast becoming a favorite option for supporters. Go
to our American Stories dot com now and go to
the donate button and help us keep the great American
stories coming. That's our American Stories dot com.