A baby penguin hatched in New Orleans’ Audubon Aquarium Tuesday. The chick was raised in an incubator by the animal care team at the aquarium and is a healthy newborn, according to a press release.
The newborn chick is covered in a fluffy gray down, but penguin parents Ocio and Hubig need only wait a few months for their baby to get the recognizable black and white stripes of a penguin.
The two African black-footed penguins, an endangered species in the wild, are also parents of Moon and Zion. Zion recently left the aquarium to join a new colony at Maryland Zoo.
A baby African penguin was born at the Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans on March 21, 2023. The chick doesn’t have a name yet, but will soon.
Audubon Aquarium’s team will continue around-the-clock care for the chick including special feeding and preparing the penguin to eat fish as an adult.
Next, his human care team will help him get used to aquatic life and teach him to swim.
The fluffy little penguin is expected to be named soon. Guests will be able to visit the baby penguin when the aquarium reopens in the summer after closing for renovations to upgrade several exhibits in November.
“Everyone loves watching the penguins when they visit the Aquarium, (and) many guests have their favorite penguin that they always look for.” Audubon Nature Institute President and CEO Ron Forman said in a press release.
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