Two Humboldt penguins were born at the Moscow Zoo on January 1 and 3. On Tuesday, February 21, the press service of the zoo showed the chicks.
The first hatched on New Year’s Eve – from December 31st to January 1st. Humboldt penguins hatch about 38 to 40 days after the egg is hatched, so the dates were expected by zoo staff. The gender of the penguins will be known in a few months.
The parents’ names are Naginya (male) and Tolstaya (female). The couple has been breeding steadily for five years, so they did not need the help of zoologists and veterinarians in caring for the chicks – adult penguins cope with this task on their own.
Now the cubs are sitting in a hole with their parents. Naginya and Tolstaya guard their chicks together or in turn, leaving only to eat. Humboldt penguins feed their chicks until about 6-7 months of age with the same food that they eat themselves – fish. The penguins will start swimming on their own from the age of two months, when they have their first plumage.
At the end of December, the Moscow Zoo announced that more than 1.6 thousand cubs had appeared in 2022, this was a new record. Chicks appeared in pelicans, cormorants, golden eagles, swans, pink and red flamingos, owls and Humboldt penguins.
