Auckland's Kelly Tarltons welcomes its own 'royal babies': two penguin chicks
Friday, 2 November 2018
Two adorable Gentoo penguin chicks have been welcomed into the world at Sea Life Kelly Tarlton's in Auckland this week.
Born just one day apart, and weighing 280g and 240g, the two unnamed chicks are both biological offspring to penguin couple DB and Noah.
One of the eggs was fostered to another couple, George and Skye, whose own egg was infertile.
They will continue to raise the chick as their own.
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The fluffy siblings are being hailed as New Zealand's own 'royal babies' by Kelly Tarlton's head curator Andrew Christie.
'They arrived just in time to waddle into the history books and reserve bragging rights amongst their generation to say they were around for the royal tour,' he said.
Preparing for the arrival of the chicks saw workers spending hours creating breeding nests, monitoring egg development and weighing each chick up to four times a day.
'The team has invested countless hours into ensuring the safe arrival and development of each and every chick,' Christie said.
Kelly Tarlton's is currently in its twenty-second breeding season. The two penguin chicks will serve as ambassadors for their species, and help educate the public on the plight penguins face in the wild.
As Gentoo penguins grow incredibly quickly, the new arrivals will spend the next few weeks with their parents, learning vital skills including how to feed and socialise within the colony.
Once they are big enough, they will begin to lose their baby penguin fluff and start growing adult feathers.
They are expected to grow to between 51 to 90cm tall. Males can reach 8.5kg.
Sub-Antarctic penguins face a number of threats in the wild, Christie said, including loss of habitat and breeding nests due to global warming, and plastic consumption which can often be passed on to their young via their unique feeding technique.
The youngsters can be visited in the Penguin Discovery exhibit at Sea Life Kelly Tarlton's Auckland.
At this stage it is not known what names the two chicks will receive.