--- description: Seven penguins have mysteriously drowned while inside their exhibit at a Canadian zoo Thursday, officials said title: 7 Penguins Mysteriously Drown Inside Canadian Zoo Exhibit image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac238317f68efd4b/6988b267524fc0c1dcdfa7bf/humboldt-penguins.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 7 Penguins Mysteriously Drown Inside Canadian Zoo Exhibit  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 8, 2016 11:38 PM CUT  Humboldt Penguins Humboldt PenguinsSimon Lindley—Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 8, 2016 11:38 PM CUT Seven penguins have mysteriously [drowned](https://www.calgaryzoo.com/media-releases/calgary-zoo-mourns-loss-humboldt-penguins "undefined") while inside their [exhibit](https://www.calgaryzoo.com/animals/penguin-plunge "undefined") at a Canadian zoo Thursday, officials said. The more than half-dozen [Humboldt penguins](https://www.calgaryzoo.com/animals/birds/humboldt-penguin "undefined") were found dead at the Calgary Zoo in Alberta, zoo officials said in a statement. What led them to drown is unclear. “This is devastating news,” said Jamie Dorgan, the zoo’s director of animal Care. “We have launched a full investigation so we can try to understand what happened and prevent further incidents like this from happening again.” The small birds were in the back of their holding area, which is used to house the penguins. Necropsies performed on all seven penguins found they died from drowning, the zoo said. The facility is home to 22 Humboldt penguins as well as several other species of penguins. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4596232/penguins-dead-canada-zoo-drown/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4596232/penguins-dead-canada-zoo-drown/"},"headline":"7 Penguins Mysteriously Drown Inside Canadian Zoo Exhibit","datePublished":"2016-12-08T23:38:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:30:11.210Z","description":"They were found dead in the back of their holding area","url":"https://time.com/4596232/penguins-dead-canada-zoo-drown/","keywords":["animals","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac238317f68efd4b/6988b267524fc0c1dcdfa7bf/humboldt-penguins.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac238317f68efd4b/6988b267524fc0c1dcdfa7bf/humboldt-penguins.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Close-Up Of Humboldt Penguins","caption":"Close-Up Of Humboldt Penguins","creditText":"Simon Lindley—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4596232/penguins-dead-canada-zoo-drown/","name":"7 Penguins Mysteriously Drown Inside Canadian Zoo Exhibit"}}]}] ```