Most zoos keep penguins, but not many zoos keep them well. Like most of the birds in zoos, a substantial degree of commitment is needed to breed penguins. Humboldt's penguins, for example, need sandy burrows to lay their eggs, and a quiet off-show area to rear the chicks. Hand rearing of young chicks is often essential because although wild birds will feed their young fish from their crops, it is difficult in zoos to repeat this. This is because without the long swim and walk back from the sea, the fish does not have long enough to predigest. Where zoos are committed to breeding, they can be very successful. In Britain, Chester Zoo, Penscynor, and Whipsnade hatch about sixty chicks a year between them; but few of the remaining zoos with Humboldt's penguins manage to rear any.

Of the more rarely seen penguins in zoos, nowhere has more success than Edinburgh zoo which annually hatches around thirty gentoos and usually a small clutch of rockhoppers and king penguins. Edinburgh Zoo's new penguin pool, opened in 1992, is probably the best place to see penguins in Europe