Penguin Pals: Roast Beef and Plum Pudding

Roast Beef and Plum Pudding sound more like dishes served at a restaurant rather than the names of two African penguins. After reading some of our previous posts, you probably figured out that we give our penguins specific names that tell you a little bit about each species. So you may be wondering why we named these penguins after tasty dishes.


Roast Beef


Plum Pudding

Well Roast Beef and Plum Pudding are named after two islands off the coast of Namibia. It is said that English sealers probably gave these islands their names because to the hungry and homesick sailors, these islands on the horizon looked like the favorite holiday meal of roast beef and plumpudding.


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Roast beef and plumpudding, holiday favorites for hungry sailors

Roast Beef hatched on August 4, 1998, and has a gray bracelet on his left wing. Plum Pudding hatched three days later on August 7 and has a purple and yellow bracelet, also on his left wing. Their parents are Mosselbaai and Jutten.

Roast Beef is getting pretty famous this summer. His mug is splashed across signs throughout Boston with our summer advertising campaign. You also may have seen Roast Beef mentioned on the website as part of our Penguin Pursuit contest. Roast Beef has been to Fanueil Hall, the Children’s Museum and Fenway Park this summer giving visitors a chance to see a penguin close up, and ask questions about penguins. He stays cool in his own private air conditioned cart. He is one of the few birds that we will take out of the exhibit on educational outreaches. Roast Beef is a natural under the spotlight; he doesn’t get agitated too easily and always seems to enjoy the attention.


Roast Beef visiting school children in Boston


Kids enjoying a little face time with Roast Beef outside Fenway Park

Check our News and Updates page for more information about the Penguin Pursuit contest. Roast Beef is making a few more appearances this summer, see if you can figure out where to find him! We'll see you there.

- Andrea