Baby Penguins Hatch at Maryland Zoo

The penguin population is on the rise in Baltimore. That’s because the Maryland Zoo has welcomed its two newest additions with the birth of two African penguin chicks this month.

The chicks weighed in at .78 lb and .39 lb as of Tuesday, according to the Maryland Zoo, which reported they were born Nov. 5 and Nov. 9.

They start out “the size of a golf ball,” zoo staff told WBAL.

Now, the chicks are steadily growing in the zoo’s conservation area, where their parents Mega and Rossi rotate caring for them.

“With African penguins, both the male and the female take turns sitting on the eggs,” Jen Kottyan, avian collection and conservation manager, said. “Once the eggs hatch, parents take turns caring for their offspring; they each protect, feed and keep the chick or chicks warm for two to three days and then switch off.”

The two chicks are the first hatchlings of the penguin season, which starts at the zoo in September. It can take approximately 40 days for birds to hatch.

Additions to the African penguin population are celebrated particularly because they are on the endangered species list, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. The union reports that the penguins have experienced an estimated decline of 61 percent in the past 28 years and there are approximately 52,000 left.

The Maryland Zoo—which is home to more than 60 penguins—reports it has the largest colony of African penguins in North America.

“Our penguins are bred according to recommendations from the AZA African Penguin Species Survival Plan (SSP) which helps maintain their genetic diversity,” said Kottyan. “Many of the African penguins previously bred at the Zoo now inhabit zoo and aquarium exhibits around the world.”

The latest baby penguins will be brought out into the public in three months, according to WBAL.