The Racine Zoo is welcoming two new African penguin chicks to their list of residents.
The two chicks were hatched on March 6 and March 8 to their parents Robin and Linus at the zoo.
Zoo staff says the chicks have been growing quickly and are already five times bigger than they were when they hatched.
“We could not be more thrilled to welcome these new birds into the world, and to share the exciting news,” said Aszya Summers, curator of animal care and conservation education at the Racine Zoo. “African penguins are endangered and face a variety of threats in the wild, and each penguin has an important role to play in the conservation of their species.”
The Racine Zoo is a member of the African Penguin Species Survival Program that works to ensure healthy African penguin populations exist in the wild and in zoos.
In 2015, the zoo added four new African penguins in hopes to build a robust community. The two new chicks join their older brother Kobe, born at the Racine Zoo in 2016, and sister Harper born in 2019.
“The Racine Zoo has been diligently cultivating our African penguin breeding program over the years,” said Executive Director of the Racine Zoo Beth Heidorn. “With the announcement of our new African penguin chicks in 2021, we are especially proud to be making a positive long-term impact on African penguin populations, especially as wild populations decline.”
