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Four Penguin Chicks Hatch at the Aquarium

Meet the newest members of our African penguin colony.

By New England Aquarium

See caption below — Four African penguins chicks hatched at the New England Aquarium in spring 2024 Photo: Vanessa Kahn

Four new African penguin chicks have hatched at the New England Aquarium and are being cared for behind the scenes by our dedicated Animal Care team. When ready, the young animals will join the rest of the colony where half of the population exceeds the average lifespan of African penguins in the wild. The chicks need to get their waterproof feathers, build relationships, and be able to swim and climb up on the islands in the exhibit area before they will be ready to join the other 38 African penguins. The Animal Care team assists the chicks in learning these skills by having them practice swimming and climbing in a smaller pool behind the scenes. Their goal is to set up every animal for success in their environment.

The chicks are part of a breeding program called the African Penguin Species Survival Plan, through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The program supports field conservation efforts along with breeding to help promote a sustainable future for these endangered penguins.

Meet the new chicks (who have yet to be named) and learn more about their families.

Parents Demersus III and Malgas II have two new chicks:

Alpha chick of parents Demersus and Malgas Photo: Vanessa Kahn

Male alpha chick

Hatch date: 3/21/2024
Hatch weight: 71g or .15 pounds
Current weight: 2760 g or 6.08 pounds
Siblings: Bray (hatched last year) and the female chick below

This male chick is wearing a pink zip-tie bracelet to distinguish him from his sister. Currently, trainers are working on relationship building. The chick has been weaned and is learning to be hand-fed.

Beta chick of parents Demersus and Malgas Photo: Vanessa Kahn

Female beta chick

Hatch date: 3/27/2024
Hatch weight: 63g or .14 pounds
Current weight: 2170g or 4.78 pounds
Siblings: Bray and the male chick above

Like her brother, this young chick has also been weened and is learning to be hand-fed. She wears a yellow bracelet.

Parents Jahleel III and Namibia IV also have two new chicks:

Alpha chick of parents Jahleel and Namibia Photo: Vanessa Kahn

Male alpha chick

Hatch date: 4/8/2024
Hatch weight: 65g or .14 pounds
Current weight: 1915g or 4.22 pounds
Siblings: This year’s beta chick below

This second pair of penguins are first-time parents. Their egg and chick, also just weaned, were fostered by experienced parents, Durban and Harlequin.

Beta chick of Jahleel and Namibia Photo: Vanessa Kahn

Female beta chick

Hatch date: 4/18/2024
Hatch weight: 64g
Current weight: 717g or 1.58 pounds
Siblings: The alpha chick listed above

This egg was incubated by Durban and Harlequin and then put back with its parents as it started pipping or hatching. Though this egg hatched later than most African penguins and experienced slow growth in the beginning, it is now thriving. The experienced Animal Care staff has been supplementing the chick with additional feeds of formula and small pieces of fish to help its first-time parents succeed in raising a healthy chick. Currently, both of the new parents are successfully feeding the thriving chic,k so it has been a great learning opportunity that will set this pair up for future success with parental duties.

The baby birds will be named when they join the exhibit. All of our penguins have educational names that can teach us something about their species or penguins in general. Learn more about our naming process.

Sharing Lessons Learned from Penguin Breeding

Since the 1970s, more than 110 African penguin chicks have been successfully raised at the New England Aquarium. Breeding gives the penguins a chance to go through an important life stage—pair-bonding, nesting, breeding, and rearing.

Over the years, Aquarium staff have learned a lot about breeding. However, as Melissa Joblon, director of animal health at the Aquarium said, “Breeding is not only a great learning opportunity for the staff but also for the birds.”

Kristen McMahon, curator of Pinnipeds and Penguins at the Aquarium shared that breeding is an important part of their natural behavioral repertoire and has an enriching value to the penguins.

Eric Fox, assistant curator of penguins in the Animal Care department at the Aquarium, explained that thoughtful planning before each breeding season has been helpful.

“Over time, we’ve learned to understand the expectations and all the hard work that goes into rearing baby penguins,” he said.

Fox also shared that the team’s “approach to relationship building and taking small steps in integrating the penguins into the colony through small introductions to adults from the colony as well as small introductions into the exhibit proved to make a really smooth transition.”

The team had to be hands-on in some cases, Fox explained, and they’ve come to know that it’s ok to do so when necessary.

“We have learned that if we can assist in the early stages of hatching, even if that’s just helping to moisten the membrane or peel back layers of the [egg] shell so we can get a better visual, it only helps to make sure that we are confident when intervention is needed versus not.”

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Sharing Lessons Learned from Penguin Breeding

Kristen McMahon, curator of Pinnipeds and Penguins at the Aquarium shared that breeding is an important part of their natural behavioral repertoire and has an enriching value to the penguins.

Eric Fox, assistant curator of penguins in the Animal Care department at the Aquarium, explained that thoughtful planning before each breeding season has been helpful.

“Over time, we’ve learned to understand the expectations and all the hard work that goes into rearing baby penguins,” he said.

The team had to be hands-on in some cases, Fox explained, and they’ve come to know that it’s ok to do so when necessary.

Four Penguin Chicks Hatch at the Aquarium

Parents Demersus III and Malgas II have two new chicks:

Male alpha chick

Female beta chick

Parents Jahleel III and Namibia IV also have two new chicks:

Male alpha chick

Female beta chick

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