00:00Researchers in Chile have designed an unlikely new garment for injured penguins.
00:04Snug red vests threaded with copper and zinc that they hope will help the aquatic birds heal faster.
00:10Veterinarians have found success in the past using such suits to treat injured dogs and cats.
00:15Now they're trying out the technology on Humboldt penguins in Chile,
00:18home to the largest concentration of the vulnerable species.
00:21For years, vests with microfibers containing elements like copper and zinc
00:25have been tested on pets, particularly dogs and cats,
00:28and have greatly helped in the recovery of skin wounds.
00:30Said Ignacio Idosuaga, director of the Buin Zoo,
00:33a wildlife park on the outskirts of Chile's capital, Santiago,
00:37where researchers took measurements of penguins to develop the first copper bodysuits.
00:40We began to wonder, why can't this be used on penguins?
00:44He told the Associated Press.
00:46The experiment comes as Chile's Humboldt penguin population declines sharply.
00:50The birds face mounting threats, including entanglement in fishing nets,
00:54plastic pollution, disease outbreaks, and competition with fisheries for food.
00:58Now Humboldt penguins also find themselves in the crosshairs of one of the world's most disruptive weather patterns,
01:04El Nino, which brings unusually warm waters to parts of the Pacific Ocean,
01:08making the cold-water fish that they rely on harder to find.
01:11Wildlife clinics across Chile receive distressed and injured penguins stranded along Chile's coast.
01:16Treating those injuries can be tricky.
01:18Penguins often twist their long necks to peck at gashes and pull out their own stitches,
01:22Pino said.
01:23The vests prevent them from doing that while putting copper,
01:25of which Chile is the world's top producer, to work as a salve.
01:28Zinc also stimulates the formation of new blood vessels,
01:31helping damaged tissue heal faster.
01:34We've seen that the penguins tolerate it quite well, Pino said.
01:37We noticed that from one day to the next, the wounds were in better condition with the vest.
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