Abstract:
The feeding behaviour of 19 pengums (10 males and nme females)
Ropckhopper penguin (Eudyptes chrysocome) was studied at Underwater World
Langkawi. The average air temperature in the tank was 16.04 °c and the average
water temperature was 8.28
°
C. All the penguins were fed twice a day, at 10 am and 3
pm with Sardines (Decapterus maruadsi). The objectives of this study were to
determine the daily fish intake of captive Rockhopper penguin, to compare the fish
intake between males and females Rockhopper penguin and to study the correlation
between the timing of molting to the body weight changes. Comparison between
morning (41901 ± 457 fishes) and evening (37465 ± 404 fishes) fish intake showed no
significant difference (I-test, t = 1.33, df = 46). In term of sexes, male penguins
consumed slightly more (38287 ± 484 fishes) than female penguins (36973 ± 417
fishes) but did not exhibit significant difference in the amount of fish intake (t-test, t =
0.42, df = 46). The average weight for male penguins (3.044 ± 0.259 kg) did not differ
significantly from females (3.007 ± 0.261 kg) (t-test, t = 0.38, df = 22). The weight of
the penguins did not correlate with the fish intake (R
2
=
0.0133 for males and R
2
=
0.0358 for females).
