The staff of the Edinburgh Zoo in the United Kingdom received the latest additions to their family--two newly-hatched Gentoo penguins--this week.
According to zoo officials, the first baby penguin made its arrival on Monday, while the second chick came yesterday.
Another penguin egg is expected to hatch in the coming days and to be followed by several other chicks in the next couple of weeks.
Despite the staff's busy schedule taking care of the penguins during their breeding season, everyone is excited to welcome new hatchlings.
"We are really happy that the first of the Gentoo penguin eggs have hatched," Dawn Nicoll, senior penguin keeper in the Edinburgh Zoo, said.
Nicoll explained that the penguins' breeding season is a very eventful time for the staff of the zoo. They take care of everything the penguins need during the season, including placing the birds' nesting rings into their enclosure, incubating and hatching the eggs, and even rearing and fledging the resulting penguin chicks.
She said that it is an incredible reward to witness the eggs hatch and finally see the chicks.
As for the rest of the eggs, Nicoll said that they expect them to hatch in two to three weeks because not all Gentoo penguins lay their eggs at exactly the same time. She hopes that the season's hatchings will give them many penguin chicks to take care of in the coming months.
The Gentoo penguins' breeding season at Penguins Rock started back in March, while the first of birds laid their eggs in April during Easter. The birds were able to produce 40 new eggs this season.
Earlier this month, a team of researchers from a University of Oxford-sponsored organization called Penguin Watch released the results of their study on how the Gentoo penguins breed in the Antarctic Peninsula.
They discovered that the birds use their own poop to create breeding nests on the frozen ground. The dark-colored guano collects heat from the weak Antarctic sun in order to melt the ice covering the penguins' habitat.
The scientists of Penguin Watch believe that this technique has allowed Gentoo penguins to mate and breed despite the harsh climate of the Antarctic.
The researchers were able to capture the whole process on camera.
Photo: Martin Pettitt | Flickr
