Penguin Chicks Step Outside at the Maryland Zoo

Posted By : The Animal Facts Editorial Team

Date: March 4, 2021 10:30 pm

Four African penguin chicks take their first steps outside in the exhibit

Photo Credit: Maryland Zoo

The Maryland Zoo in the USA celebrated World Wildlife Day by taking their four penguin chicks born late last year for their first waddle outside. The African penguin chicks were able to explore the outdoors and the water at Penguin Coast.

The four chicks taken on this adventure were the first to hatch during the 2020-21 breeding season. Their names are Diamond, Pearl, Onyx and Topaz in line with the zoo’s gemstone based naming theme for this breeding season.

Four African penguin chicks take their first steps outside in the exhibit

Photo Credit: Maryland Zoo

A further six chicks have hatched during the breeding season and they are currently being raised in a behind the scenes area of the zoo. They are expected to explore outside for the first time in mid-to-late April.

Those chicks include Ruby. She was the first chick born at the zoo in 2021 and received her name as part of a naming contest run by the zoo.

— AD —

Currently guests visiting the Penguin Coast habitat at the Maryland Zoo will be able to identify the chicks as a result of their grey feathers.

Around 18 months old the chicks will undergo a “catastrophic molt” during which they will shed all of their juvenile feathers. They will then take on the sharp black-and-white coloration of an adult African penguin.