New penguin trio at Tennessee Aquarium
Officials say the new chicks have made remarkable progress and are warming the hearts of visitors.
Two chicks are siblings, but one is being raised by surrogate parents.
“When Bug and Big T’s first egg hatched, they were having a tough time keeping both the second egg and the chick underneath them,” said senior aviculturist Loribeth Lee. “Biscuit and Blue did not have a viable egg this year, so we were able to move the second egg into their nest. It hatched a couple of days later and they have done a beautiful job caring for their adopted chick.”
Placing a chick with adoptive parents is a first for the Aquarium.
“We always prefer to let the parents raise their chicks, but we’ll intervene whenever necessary,” said Lee. “Since Biscuit and Blue have been diligent parents in the past, we believed they would do a great job caring for Bug and Big T’s chick and they have.”
Officials say the chicks are also starting to show their individual personalities.
“The chick in Biscuit and Blue’s nest acts pretty mellow, preferring to hide its head under mom or dad,” said Lee. “Bug and Big T’s other chick is pretty perky and active, but nothing like Nipper’s chick. He acts feisty just like his father and loves to bite and squawk a lot.”
These three new penguins make a total of four this summer.
Each chick’s gender will be determined in the fall with a blood sample when the colony has a physical examination.
Then there will be a naming contest.
There is still one more Gentoo egg on exhibit in the nest of Poncho and Peep.
Officials say if it’s fertile, it could hatch in about a week.
See more in the video below.
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