20 Penguins Sent Via FedEx To Detroit Zoo From California [VIDEO]

ROYAL OAK (WWJ) - Amid a big month for packages, a very cool special delivery has arrived via FedEx at The Detroit Zoo.

Officials said Tuesday the company delivered a flock of 20 earlier this month to the zoo in Royal Oak from a California aquarium.

The aquatic birds have joined three other gentoo penguins that arrived earlier this year and await completion of their new home, the Polk Penguin Conservation Center.

"Gentoo penguins are fast swimmers and divers and spend a lot of time in the water, so their new aquatic habitat will be an ideal environment for them," said Scott Carter, Detroit Zoological Society chief life sciences officer, in a media release.

The $29.5 million center, which is under construction 2-acre site just inside the Detroit Zoo's entrance, is scheduled to open in April and will be home to more than 80 penguins.

A signature feature of the penguins' new home will be a chilled 326,000-gallon, 25-foot-deep aquatic area with views above and below water as the birds dive and soar.  This will allow visitors to observe penguins dive under water – something they would not be able to see in the wild.

The newest group of 10 males and 10 females are staying in a special quarantine area at the zoo's current home for penguins, the Penguinarium.

Once the new facility is completed, the Penguinarium will become a bat conservation center.

For zoo hours, prices, directions and other information, call 248-541-5717 or visit www.detroitzoo.org.