PENGUIN POSE

Yoga sessions a pickmeup for birds, humans at Cal Academy

Beneath the magnificent domes of the California Academy of Sciences, the parrots and macaws are strutting around like they own the place. And why not? The academy closed its doors to the public almost three months ago. Claude the albino alligator seems to appreciate the quiet. The fish remain indifferent.

But well before May 27, when the beloved institution announced it was laying off or furloughing some 40% of its staff, the academy’s biologists were already in a bit of a slump. The 30person animalcare team had split into two groups with a goal of maintaining and protecting their wards and one another. Workloads increased; humaninteraction decreased. Times felt “rough,” says biologist Piper Dwight, who decided to offer her colleagues a little pickmeup.

At the California Academy of Sciences in S.F., curator Vikki McCloskey leads employees in yoga in front of the penguin enclosure. ary 2019) and has not “pairbonded” with another penguin, she is more attached to the animalcare staff than the average penguin. She considers them “her people,” according to McCloskey.

Any species that live in social groups are “dramatically impacted” by a change in their daily interactions and environment, and reasonably so, says Vint Virga, a veterinary practitioner whose book, “The Soul of All Living Creatures,” delves into the inner lives of animals.

And in a “constructed” environment like an aquarium, nonhuman animals can develop strong bonds with their human caretakers, Virga says. Animals without a mate, like Stanlee, will get especially close to the caretakers feeding them; the penguins get herring and capelin fish twice a day.

“While we can't get inside a penguin’s mind and ask them, I have no doubt that they recognize that the humans are a different species and yet they readily accept humans as extensions of their social group,” says Virga, who commends the academy staff for engaging the penguins and adding dimension to their lives. Penguins can feel all sorts of humanlike emotions such as depression, pain, pleasure and joy, he adds.

Protecting and conserving the African penguin is one of the academy’s missions, says Brenda Melton, the Steinhart Aquarium’s executive director. The birds, which are native to the islands along Africa’s southwestern coast, are endangered because of overfishing, avian malaria and oil spills.

The academy’s penguin colony is never a dramafree zone, says Melton: “There’s always something going on.” There are scuffles over territory, and scraps that establish pecking order. Attentionloving, clingy and hierarchical — who knew penguins were so much like humans?

Penguins molt once a year, shedding their coats and replacing them with new feathers. During the two weekprocess, penguins are no longer waterproof. Since Stanlee is molting right now, she is currently sitting out yoga. This is Stanlee’s first “tuxedo molt” — when her features grow in, she’ll no longer “look like a baby,” says McCloskey.

For the humans at the academy, the changes in the past months have been more difficult than Stanlee’s: layoffs, illness, isolation. So the staff tries to do a yoga session at least once a week, whether it’s 15 minutes of simple meditation or a longer, fullbody stretching exercise. Caring for animals requires agility and strength, especially with only half the staff able to work each day. “Things continue to change so rapidly, it’s nice for us to have that as a constant,” McCloskey says.

While the caretakers have done yoga in the Coral Reef exhibit, where thousands of fish live, and before an audience of birds and insects in the Living roof, none of the other animals seem to be as appreciative as the penguins. And the rainforest?

“That would be more of a hot yoga class,” McCloskey says. “I’m not sure if anyone’s up for that yet.”

Ananya Panchal is an intern at the Culture Desk. Email: ananya.panchal@ sfchronicle.com

Piper Dwight