Edinburgh Zoo has released the first images of a batch of newly hatched gentoo penguin chicks.
Three chicks have hatched at the zoo since Wednesday 29 April, each weighing a tiny 98g at birth – roughly the same as a bar of soap.
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s keepers say that they are expecting to welcome more youngsters to the colony in the coming weeks.
The chicks can now be seen being cared for by their parents at the zoo’s Penguins Rock, Europe’s largest outdoor penguin pool.
Three gentoo penguin chicks have been born at the zoo since Wednesday 29 April.
Edinburgh Zoo is home to over 150 penguins across three different species – the aforementioned gentoo and northern rockhoppers, as well as the king penguin.
It was also the first zoo in the world to house and breed penguins, dating back to 1914 with the arrival of three king penguins from the Christian Salvesen whaling expedition which docked in Leith.
The successful hatching of a king penguin chick in 1919 marked the first penguin to be hatched in captivity, and the first time penguins were seen outside of the South Atlantic anywhere in the world.
The zoo also hosts the famous Penguin Parade, which started by accident in 1950 when several birds escaped.
It proved so popular with visitors though, that it became a daily feature of the zoo until it was first stopped by the risks of COVID and then avian flu.
The Wee Waddle is the zoo’s updated version of the parade, which allows visitors to watch from behind a barrier as the three species of penguins leave their enclosure to take part in feeds and then take a stroll along the walkway.
The zoo’s gentoo penguin Kevin has been allowed to re-join the waddle after previously being banned from the parade in the past for nipping at visitors’ ankles.
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