Is waddling like a penguin wise advice? We ask a marine animal trainer

A resident of West Edmonton Mall's Marine Life facility has some tips to avoid slipping amid the current icy conditions in Edmonton.

Maybe you have heard the term “waddle like a penguin” when learning to ice skate or navigate a slick parking lot in the winter – but does walking like the flightless bird actually help you in an icy situation?

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On Friday, CTV News Edmonton posed the question to animal training supervisor Stacey Feltham with West Edmonton Mall’s Marine Life, who is the handler for an African penguin named Millie – the youngest of the colony at the mall.

“She’s an African penguin, and of course with Africa, there’s not a whole lot of snow – ever – so she’s not really adapted to staying graceful on the ice,” Feltham said, with Millie the penguin perched on a table next to her.

“Penguins as a collective aren’t graceful animals. They trip all the time, just like us.”

She said even if Millie were in a frigid environment like her penguin peers in the Antarctic Circle, slipping on ice would still be the norm.

So what tips can we take away from the tuxedo bird?

According to Feltham, the “biggest key” when it comes to walking like a penguin is taking your time and keeping your hands off to the side like how a penguin holds its wings.

“Penguins are never in a rush,” she explained. “Taking your time, short steps (and) keep your phones in your pockets.”

Feltham jokingly added, “Millie doesn’t have a phone, so she doesn’t have to worry about that so much.

“Her little wings are going to help with the balance here, and if she does fall, she’s just going to get back up.”

Another important message Feltham hopes people will take to heart over the waddle word-of-advice, is to take better care of the environment. She says African penguins, like Millie, are “critically endangered” with about 10 years left on the expectancy of the species.

“Take better care of the environment, because that’s somebody else’s home,” she explained. “Clean, reduce, reuse, recycle.”

Marine Life is one of the attractions at West Edmonton Mall. You can book online to meet and greet one of the penguins, and learn more about them and other marine animals.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Brandon Lynch