Penguins at the Tulsa Zoo get ready for their grand opening Saturday

You've no doubt seen all the penguin statues around town. But now, the real thing is here. <br><br>The penguin exhibit at the Tulsa Zoo officially opens on Saturday, but Wednesday, News on Six reporter

Wednesday, November 27th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

You've no doubt seen all the penguin statues around town. But now, the real thing is here.

The penguin exhibit at the Tulsa Zoo officially opens on Saturday, but Wednesday, News on Six reporter Steve Berg gave us the birds-eye sneak peek. They're a lot more active and a lot noisier than the statues. But you should know they're not nearly as big.

Tulsa Zoo officials say there are 17 species of penguins, and the African penguin, featured in this exhibit, are one of the smaller species. But the black and white birds sport the same formal attire. And while this is just a dress rehearsal, they were quite the attraction. "I think they're cute.â€ "I like the way they swim and the way they walk." "They're cool." They do look pretty cool in that tuxedo. Zoo officials say "We do have a designated breeding pair, that we will work on getting together, that will produce chicks hopefully in the next couple of years for us."

In the wild though, their numbers are dwindling because of to oil spills and over fishing of their favorite foods. But from the granite rocks to wave machines to simulate the ocean, they've tried to mimic their habitat as closely as possible. "It's a much healthier, happier environment for the animals and the public has much more fun."

The special top to bottom windows in tank give zoo goers an underwater view that they say is the next best thing to actually swimming with the penguins. And they have lots of gadgets. Fans to keep them cool in summer. Ultra-violet sterilization for their pens. Ozone filtration for the water. These are pretty-pampered penguins. But they are the star attraction after all.

These are mild-weather penguins, so Tulsa was actually too cold for them to go outside Wednesday. But the exhibit opens this Saturday at 9:30 AM. The first 100 kids will get a penguin mask.