Polish zoo p-p-picks up an albino penguin

[March 23, 2019]    WARSAW (Reuters) - An albino pengiun made its debut appearance at a Polish zoo on Friday - the only bird of its kind in captivity, said staff.

A juvenile albino penguin is presented to the public for the first time at the Gdansk Zoo in Gdansk, Poland, March 22, 2019. Agencja Gazeta/Michal Ryniak via REUTERS

The three-month-old does not have a name, as Gdansk Zoo does not yet know if it is male or female.

"It is shy and a little bit scared... We didn't want to put it through a stress of a thorough medical examination," marketing head Emilia Salach said.

Staff have kept it separated from most of the rest of the flock, fearing the other birds will reject it because if its unusual appearance.

"Every misfit in a flock is more exposed to rejection and harm ... We can see already it hasn't been accepted yet by most of our little penguin family," said Salach.

It currently lives with its parents and two of the zoo's most placid penguins.

(Reporting by Alicja Ptak; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.