Zookeepers in Chester Zoo are celebrating the arrival of nine super cute penguin chicks. The newly-hatched weigh just 80g.
Keepers have chosen to name each of the chicks after their favourite fruits. That meant Plum was the first to make an appearance, quickly followed by Peach, Papaya, Cherry, Rhubarb, Satsuma, Lemon, Banana and Iona-Berry. Iona-Berry was named in honour of a vet who previously saved the eyesight of one of the chick’s parents.
Chester Zoo reports that the new arrivals are doing well, having spent their first few weeks tucked up in their cosy nests and they have now started venturing out. Humboldt penguins are one of the most at risk of extinction out of all 18 penguin species around the world, CheshireLive reports.
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Humboldt penguins are threatened in the wild by climate change, over-fishing of their food sources and rising sea temperatures. Sophie Bissaker, parrots and penguins keeper at the zoo, spoke of the zoo's delight at these new arrivals.
She said: “There’s nothing quite like hearing tiny chirps coming from the penguin nests and seeing little balls of fluff snuggled up with their parents just moments after hatching. And, over the course of just a few weeks, we’ve been lucky enough to hear lots of those chirps as nine new chicks have now hatched. Penguin Island is buzzing with activity.
“For the first three months of life, mum and dad keep their new chicks tucked away while they feed and nurture them. To help them gain weight while they’re so young, we provide the parents with extra fish which they swallow, churn into a high-protein soup and regurgitate at feeding times.
“Zookeepers have a trend of naming the penguins using a different theme each year and previously we’ve had brands of crisps, chocolate bars and in 2020, our NHS Heroes. After some serious thought, we’ve decided to name this year’s class after different types of fruit!
"Among them we have Plum, Banana, Lemon and Iona-Berry in honour of a vet who saved dad Munch’s eyesight last year. They’ve just started to venture out of the nest to begin swimming lessons in the main pool where they’ll learn how to catch food for themselves.
"In a few weeks they’ll shed their fluffy grey feathers to reveal their iconic black and white feathers underneath, which are waterproof and help them zoom through the water!”
Humboldt penguins are listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as they are becoming less common in places where they were once found in abundance. They are found on the rocky coastal shores of Peru and Chile.
The birds face a number of threats including climate change, over-fishing of their natural food sources and rising acidity and temperature levels in the oceans – causing the penguins to search further from their nests for fish and increasing their vulnerability to predators.
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