‘Jingle Penguins’ Light Up San Francisco Zoo [Video]

The “Jingle Penguins” have been introduced at the San Francisco Zoo in honor of the California zoo’s first-ever zoo lights celebration.

Abbie Tuller, the communications director for the San Francisco Zoo, stated of the new video, released on November 29:

“A few months ago I got a call from a sound producer at Skywalker Sound. He was hoping to come to the zoo to capture some sounds of the animals. I said, ‘Absolutely.’ The penguins are some of our most vocal animals. We had this idea for the ‘Jingle Penguins.’ “

ABC News reports that Tuller asked the producer to take live sounds of the zoo’s penguins and edit them to sound like the “Jingle Bells” tune. He was able to do so, and now the video, uploaded on YouTube, has more than 1,300 views, as of Friday night.

The black and white birds filmed for “Jingle Penguins” are part of the only colony of Magellanic penguins currently in captivity. The San Francisco credits their excellent breeding program for allowing them to have a colony of the inquisitive birds. The zoo’s website writes of the birds:

“The Magellanic penguin’s common name comes from the Straits of Magellan, a series of waterways at the southern tip of South America, where this species of penguin can be found.”

Tuller explained the “Jingle Penguins” video by saying, “We have a genius video editor on staff and she edited the video together with his sounds. The penguins are lip-syncing.” She added:

“We really like it, but you’re never sure if you’ve nailed it or not. But we’re getting a great response. People just go kooky over penguins.”

And with these adorable black and white birds, it’s easy to see why. Check out the video of the San Francisco Zoo’s “Jingle Penguins” below.