Appeal for help to name Dudley Zoo penguin chicks
Four Humbolt penguin chicks are being hand-reared by keepers.
Last updated 31st Jul 2024
Keepers at Dudley Zoo are appealing for help to name some new baby Humbolt penguin chicks.
They have been hand-rearing four chicks for the last few months.
Two were spotted outside their nest box at only four weeks of age, at risk from the weather, other penguins and the deep pool without intervention.
The other two were taken in after being abandoned by their parents after heavy rain flooded their nest site.
Section Leader, Nicola Wright, said: “The chicks are doing really well. We’ve been feeding them three times a day, first with liquidised fish, replicating how their parents would feed them and then on to bigger chunks.
“They’re all putting on weight and steadily increasing in size and they’ve now almost lost their fluffy grey feathers and are quickly transitioning into waterproofed juveniles!
“We’ve named the two eldest Michael and Jaws, as the one likes doing a moonwalk, while the other is a little snappy, but we need help with names for the younger two siblings, who we nicknamed ‘The Sleepies’ as all they did is sleep or scream at us for food during the first few weeks!”
As part of the rearing process, staff have now moved the four youngsters into the isolation facilities in Penguin Bay, where they have also been encouraging them to start swimming in the shallow off-show pool.