Zoo's 3 surviving penguins improve after deaths of 6 others

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - A northwest Indiana zoo's three surviving penguins are gaining weight and improving weeks after avian malaria killed the zoo's six other penguins, officials said.

The three remaining penguins have 'œshowed an increase in weight and activity," Heather Woody, the Columbian Park Zoo's head zoo keeper, told the Lafayette Parks and Recreation Board.

'œWe do have a long road ahead of us still, but we are hopeful,'ť Woody said Monday, adding that additional test results on the birds are pending.

The three penguins have also battled suspected avian malaria, believed to be what sickened the six birds that died in October and November despite around-the-clock care that included anti-malarial medications, the Journal & Courier reported.

Officials are 'œvery hopeful, but cautiously so" that the three surviving penguins will recover, said Samantha Haville, Lafayette Parks and Recreation's marketing manager.

The penguins were part of the zoo's Penguin Cove exhibit, which opened in July at the zoo in Lafayette, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Indianapolis.