Organisers of an event which offered visitors the chance to skate alongside penguins have been forced to cancel after uproar from animal rights groups
Londoners would have had the opportunity to share an ice rink with five Humboldt penguins at the Queens Skate Dine Bowl, in West London
The cute animals were set to waddle onto the rink, based near Bayswater station on Saturday January 19, however the event has now been pulled after groups such as PETA and Humane Society International called for the event to be cancelled, as well as swimmer Lewis Pugh and TV vet Marc Abrahams
PETA said that the penguins would 'experience stress' due to the amount of humans that would have been present at the event
The birds would have been enclosed in their own purpose built pen where a hip height barrier was to separate them from the other skaters
Guests were told they had the chance to come face to face with the penguins between 4-8pm, with it being just adults after 7pm
All profits from the event were set to go towards BirdLife international, a bird conservation charity and the skate sessions were in aid of Penguin Awareness Day
Lewis Pugh, who is a swimmer and ocean advocate had tweeted: 'This is terrible idea
What an inappropriate way to mark #PenguinAppreciationDay'. This is while Marc Abraham urged people to sign a petition to get the event cancelled
The venue said: 'Penguin Awareness Day at QUEENS has been cancelled. The event was intended as a non-profit, educational & accessible experience to increase awareness and education about this beloved engaged sea-bird, with monies to be raised for BirdLife International
'Sadly due to the concerns raised by various animal protection groups including PETA & Freedom for Animals – we have had to cancel the event in the interest of the penguins & our guests
' Share this article Share Speaking to the MailOnline, a spokesperson for Humane Society International said: 'We are relieved that this ill-conceived event has been cancelled
It was always a terrible idea to subject sentient creatures like these penguins to the potential stress of noisy, unpredictable public display
'It was absurd to claim to be educating the public about threats to penguins, by exploiting the very animals the organisers claimed to care about
'For the sake of the penguins, we are glad Queens Skate Dine Bowl have had the sense to cancel, but hope that on reflection they can see that this was not a case of people 'spoiling' a fun event, but of animal welfare professionals united against an event that for the penguins was never going to be fun in the first place
PETA had also penned a letter to the manager of the venue proposing that they cancel the event, saying that the animals would 'experience stress in the presence of humans'
The letter read: 'We hope you'll agree that a busy, noisy venue such as yours, filled with bright lights and excited children and adults, is an entirely unsuitable environment for penguins or any other animals
Humboldt penguins belong in the cold water and on the rocky islands off the coast of South America, not at an entertainment venue in London
'The organisation's director, Elisa Allen then goes onto say that the penguins 'don't habituate well to life in captivity'
'What's more, Humboldt penguins, in particular, are known to experience stress in the presence of humans
They don't habituate well to life in captivity, much less to being toted around and displayed
'We urge you to follow the examples of famed London toy shop Hamleys and Nottingham's intu Broadmarsh shopping centre, both of which cancelled plans to include penguins in their events after a public outcry and now refrain from featuring similar displays
'There are many other ways to attract customers that would not compromise animal welfare
'The venue has not yet responded to the request.
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