More baby macaroni penguin joy
Our zoo team celebrate the arrival of another macaroni penguin chick – the second ever to hatch at Penguin Coast!
Penguin keepers have celebrated the arrival of multiple Humboldt penguin chick hatchlings over the years. Boosting population numbers of this vulnerable species as part of the managed breeding programme, is something to be extremely proud of!
However – the team are now happy to announce some news regarding our macaroni penguins too! Notoriously harder to breed than Humboldt penguins, the zoo team have only celebrated one successful breeding within the macaroni colony so far. Until now…
Meet Ragu – our second ever macaroni penguin chick who hatched on 26 May, who is still nestled under the safety of mum and dad – ‘Minnie’ and ‘Vinnie’. This new arrival is testament to the hard work and care from our amazing keepers, who ensure the birds remain healthy and happy in their environment at Penguin Coast.
Ragu’s biological parents are actually Macaroni residents ‘Solly’ and ‘Roxy’ – however, Minnie and Vinnie had a much better nest site that was located on top of some rocks rather than in the sand where Solly and Roxy remained. This would give Ragu a much better chance of survival, so keepers decided to pop her under the new surrogate parents and they’ve been complete naturals, especially Vinnie who’s taken his role as new dad very seriously. Solly and Roxy were instead given a dummy egg to care for so were kept happy too!
Macaroni chick ‘Ravioli’ was the team’s first macaroni breeding success last year. Ravioli recently turned one and it’s safe to say he’s a very colourful character. Cheeky doesn’t even come close – as he constantly seeks attention from his keepers and pecks at their legs until he gets what he wants! We wonder if Ragu will be as brave and bold as her future BFF!
For the first few months of their life, penguin chicks are cared for by mum and dad who take turns to guard the youngster as the other goes for a swim and enjoys some fish. Once they’re old enough – mum and dad essentially kick their chicks out of the nest to fend for themselves. It’s at this point that our keepers lend a helping hand – by helping the youngsters feed on whole fish and allow them into the training pool where they can learn to swim. This helps ensure the chick has the best chance of survival – something they don’t receive in the wild. This is why so many young penguin chicks in the wild sadly don’t make it by themselves – especially given the fight they need to put up to get their fish amongst all the adult penguins. With threats like overfishing and climate change meaning there’s less food to go around – our colony’s wild cousins have a difficult journey to reach adulthood!
Ragu, Minnie and Vinnie have already been moved into the Penguin Nursery section of the Penguin Coast enclosure, a little earlier than they would usually do…Keeper Caz explains why:
“Macaroni penguins are very curious and they were paying a little too much attention to the newest arrival to the colony – which caused mum and dad to become more stressed. So we made the decision to move the happy family to their own private quarters, where they will remain off-display until Ragu is older and strong enough to join the main colony again.”
Caz – penguin keeper
Her arrival is very special for us and for the species as a whole. Numbers of these birds, just like the Humboldt penguins, are decreasing and they are both considered a vulnerable species according to the IUCN Red List.
Please note: Ragu, Minnie and Vinnie will remain off display until later in the summer, when Ragu is strong enough to join the main colony in the big pool area once more. Check out our social media channels for further updates and for more sneaky pics of her progress.