Colchester Zoo welcomes two Humboldt penguin chicks

The venue's animal care team has announced it has welcomed two Humboldt penguins’ chicks, hatched from second-time parents Pepper and Chile.

Mum Pepper was born at Colchester Zoo in April 2016, with dad Chile arriving from Zlin-Lesna Zoo in Czech Republic in May 2014.

Happy - smiles from the chick as he looks to be enjoying his new surroundings (Image: Colchester Zoo)

The pair became parents for the first time last year with the arrival of Jalapeno and Tabasco.

Humboldt penguins are currently listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of endangered species, making these chicks important to the conservation of the species.

They have a light grey coat until their adult feathers come through, which is when they start to develop their unique spot patterns on their stomach.

Once the chicks have their adult feathers, they will be gradually introduced to the others within the huddle.

The zoo said both parents are doing a good job, however, the animal care team noticed after the first few weeks one chick was not growing as quickly as the other.

After monitoring this individual chick’s weight every day with no improvement, the difficult decision was made to hand rear the smaller chick whilst the other stayed with mum and dad in the nest.

Waiting - The two eggs before they hatched, waiting for the arrival of the cute chicks (Image: Colchester Zoo)

“The parents are doing a fantastic job at rearing the chick that remained with them and it can now be seen out of the nest on occasion,” a spokesman said.

“Since the Animal Care Team began caring for the new arrival, it has started to gain weight, but this still is a vulnerable time for the chick.

“We do hope that we will be able to reintroduce the little chick back to its nest soon and will keep you updated with any news.”

This is just the latest in a long list of new births at the zoo this year.

The news of the new chicks comes just a week after the announcement of the birth of a baby gelada baboon and in early May the zoo also celebrated the arrival of a spider monkey infant.