There’s good news in Ramat Gan: an African penguin chick, a species in danger of extinction, has hatched at The Safari.
Five months ago, the caretakers in the Safari’s bird department were excited to discover cracks in the egg laid by Peleg in the burrow she shares with her mate, Kochav.
African penguins are monogamous; they live in permanent pairs and raise their offspring together. The female penguin lays between one and two eggs and after 40 days of incubation by both parents, a chick emerges from the carefully tended egg.
Upon seeing the cracks, the caretakers realized the hatching had begun, and carefully followed the miracle until the tiny and very cute chick emerged.
Now the chick is old enough to begin developing socialization skills. Recently, he was moved to a special fence in the penguin yard so that he could have a protected interaction with the other members of the group.
To be honest, it is not yet known whether the chick is male or female: It is not possible to distinguish between males and females based on appearance. A blood test is required, which is sent to a special laboratory.
“The chick has just finished molting the down with which it was born, and at this stage he is ready to walk around and explore the yard. This is how we found out that his favorite pastime is of course swimming in the pool!” Safari staff said.
Penguins are sea birds that cannot fly; they their wings to swim.
“This little chick is an excellent swimmer just as one would expect, and seems to be using every spare minute for swimming training and wading in the pool while the handlers keep an eye on him,” the staff said.
The Safari participates in some 60 breeding programs for endangered species of the European Organization of Zoos. One of those programs is dedicated to the African penguin, a species endemic to southern Africa. There are 28 known nesting colonies along the coasts of South Africa and Namibia.
According to estimates, there are slightly more than 10,000 African penguin breeding pairs in the wild, and the population is on the decline. The species is defined as “endangered” on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
The primary reason for the decline in the population of African penguins is difficulty in finding food due to a reduced amount of the fish the penguins feed upon, due to commercial fishing and climate change.
In the penguin yard in The Safari, there are 10 individuals, including the new chick. Each pair has a burrow where they incubate their eggs and raise their chicks. At a later stage, the caretakers take care of the chicks to get them used to eating straight from the hand to the beak.
“Individual feeding allows us to make sure that each penguin gets a vitamin pill hidden inside a fish and track exactly how much each penguin has eaten. Our caretakers know each penguin personally and make sure that no one goes hungry,” the staff said.
