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By: Sarah Sharkey
Earlier this year, an African black-footed penguin was born on World Penguin Day. The special day was April 25th.
The young chick hatched at the OdySea Aquarium in Arizona. The chick is the first to be naturally hatched at the aquarium, so it was a special day for the zoo staff.
Although other chicks have been hatched by hand at the zoo, these penguin parents were able to welcome this new chick into the world by themselves. The newest addition to the family weighed only 60 grams at birth. That is equal to about 60 paperclips. Most of the chick was fluff, but it was still small enough to fit into the palm of your hand.
For the first months of its life, it lived in a special part of the exhibit with its mom and dad. Although the guests could still see the chick, it was keep away from the other penguins. The plexiglass frame helped to protect the chick from others, and lets its parents take care of it in peace.
An animal care specialist at the zoo, Jenn Hutchins had this to say about the protective frame, “”If you do see our nice little chick coming on out and checking you out through the Plexiglass, great. If not, it’s okay. Mom (Prince) and dad (Tux) are doing a great job at taking care of it inside the nest.”
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