It was a joyous day on the Maryland Zoo yesterday as they celebrated the beginning of eight African penguin chicks. The beginning of child animals is at all times one thing to have a good time, however much more so when the animals are critically endangered, as these penguins are.
Maryland Zoo Celebrates Beginning Of African Penguin Chicks
The Maryland Zoo is conserving hope alive with the beginning of those African penguin chicks. The zoo’s website shares alarming information about its declining inhabitants. They write that “The African penguin is a critically-endangered species whose inhabitants has declined by 90% because the flip of the twentieth century.”
At the moment, “The present wild inhabitants is estimated at about 52,000 birds.” Unsurprisingly, people are one of many predominant contributing components to this species’ decline. Nonetheless, some good people just like the zookeepers on the Maryland Zoo are additionally serving to to convey them again.
PEOPLE shared that on Monday, Dec. 8, the Maryland Zoo rejoiced over the beginning of eight new African penguin chicks. Moreover, the outlet shared that the zookeepers bought the privilege of naming the brand new chicks.
Cuteness Overload
After sharing an lovely picture slideshow of the chicks, the Maryland Zoo additionally shared that the newborn penguins are being named after fruit and greens this yr. “The primary two names introduced by the Zoo at the moment are: Kiwi and Cayenne.” Whereas these had been the one names launched thus far, extra names can be unveiled within the coming weeks.
The zoo makes a valiant effort to attempt to shield the African penguins and stop their numbers from dropping additional. On their web site, they share that ” Volunteers from The Maryland Zoo traveled to South Africa to assist with the rescue and rehabilitation effort initiated by the Worldwide Fund for Animal Welfare and the South African Basis for the Conservation of Coastal Birds.”
Moreover, this zoo hosts the biggest colony of African penguins in North America. They share that “since 1967, greater than 1,000 African penguins have hatched on the zoo.”