Five baby Humboldt penguins at the ZSL London Zoo are getting a little extra help from their zookeepers to ensure they get the best start in life. The young penguins, all born between April 14 and 24, were found to have first-time parents who needed some assistance with caring for their chicks. As a result, the zookeepers have stepped in to hand-rear the little penguins in the zoo's nursery.
“We monitor the nests daily during the breeding season to check on the chicks' progress,” said Suzi Hyde, a penguin keeper at the zoo. “These five had parents who required a bit of extra support, so we were happy to help—with the assistance of soft toy penguins from the zoo shop, which the babies can snuggle with.”
Typically, penguin parents share the responsibility of feeding and nurturing their babies, recognizing them by their unique calls. However, since these chicks weren't getting enough care from their parents, the zookeepers have been feeding them around the clock. The penguins' surrogate stuffed animals provide comfort in place of the missing parental snuggles.
Currently, the baby penguins are being fed a special “penguin milkshake,” which is a blend of fish, vitamins, and minerals that resembles the regurgitated food penguin parents would normally feed their young. The chicks are kept warm under lamps and snuggle with their plush toys while they grow stronger each day. A recent video shared by the zoo shows the penguins during their daily weigh-ins, and it’s clear they’re thriving, gaining about 10 percent in weight daily.
Four of the five penguins are girls, with one boy among the group. The zookeepers decided to name them after key moments in Queen Elizabeth II's 70-year reign, celebrating her Platinum Jubilee. The chicks are named Hillary, after Sir Edmund Hillary's Mount Everest conquest; Bobby, in honor of soccer legend Bobby Moore; Apollo, after the moon landing in 1969; Mac, for record-breaking sailor Ellen MacArthur; and Bernie, after Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the internet.
While the penguins' soft gray feathers aren't waterproof yet, they'll soon begin swimming lessons in the zoo’s nursery pool once they reach 10 weeks old. After they develop their waterproof feathers, they will join the other 62 Humboldt penguins in the zoo’s Penguin Beach exhibit.