Chester Zoo celebrates arrival of nine adorable baby penguins

Chester Zoo has announced that nine penguin chicks have been born, with each one weighing just 80g.

The zoo’s conservation project confirmed another outstanding achievement with the birth of the baby penguins for its existing colony.

Each chick has been named after the favourite fruit of staff members, with Plum the first to be revealed from the new clan of Humboldt penguins.

At just a few weeks old, the penguin chicks have now reached around 3kg and are learning how to swim, as well as spending time with their parents.

Chester Zoo

Sophie Bissaker, Parrots and Penguins Keeper at the zoo, 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.”

Chester Zoo

She continued: “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!”

Chester Zoo

Humboldt penguins, most commonly found on the rocky coastal shores of Peru and Chile, are one of the most at-risk species of penguin.

This is due to climate change, overfishing and the ocean’s rising acidity and temperature levels.