POWELL – Officials at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium have welcomed three Humboldt penguin chicks and say offspring and parents are all doing well.
Two females hatched on March 17 and are being cared for by parents Asela and Chirriante and Katja and Hans. A male hatched on March 20 to parents Ava and Gunter.
The chicks currently weigh between 500 and 1100 grams but typically double their hatch weight in the first five days of life and a three-week-old chick is able to swallow whole fish from his or her parents, zoo officials said.
Adults eat three to four times their usual amount when caring for young and the parents at the Zoo are fed an additional meal each day when they are rearing chicks.
The Columbus Zoo is one of only a few in North America that participate in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan breeding of Humboldt penguins, which are endangered. Zoo officials say there are currently between 3,000 and 12,000 Humboldt penguins left in their native range.