Meet Cookie, the baby penguin at Cincinnati Zoo who is the unofficial mascot of their penguin habitat and bird house. This video was captured by Patricia Sund at the time when she was a guest zookeeper there for the purpose of collecting materials for her book and her blog called “Parrot Nation”.
In this video they had Cookie in a building to change the bandage on his feet because he had bumblefoot, a common inflammatory reaction to bacterial infection in birds. The video looks not too special, kind of boring at first, but you simply must keep watching. You are not going to believe what happens next.
Cookie walks up to a handler who has a hand lowered to the floor. Before you know it, there’s a loud noise! It’s deep and throaty like a plane? A swarm of velociraptors? You’re not going to believe how loud and excited this little penguin can sound.
Only when watch closely that you’ll notice Cookie is getting his belly tickled by the handler. He’s play-flying like a big bird or an airplane with his little wings spread wide and his soft belly pushing against the tickling fingers.
This is sweet beyond believe. It will melt your heart. This little penguin born in captivity is happy and knows how to play like a human child. Patricia had been trying for a long time to capture this precious display. She finally did it!
