It’s baby time at the Aquarium! And the proud mom is none other than our very own Zuki, the African penguin!
Zuki hatched on our beach in January 2009. She was reared by her parents, Chuck and Belinda, until she was approximately one month old. She was then hand-reared at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) so that she could act as an ambassador for African penguins and assist in our education programmes.
In December 2012, the Two Oceans Aquarium welcomed three new African penguins from uShaka Sea World. We hoped that one of these, a handsome male called Nonu, would eventually catch Zuki’s eye and that they would pair up. To our great delight, this is exactly what happened and about a month ago, Zuki and Nonu’s first chick hatched.
Both parents and chick are doing very well, with the bundle of fluff weighing in at a hefty 1.63kg! This is quite an achievement, and means that the first-time parents have come to the party and are taking very good care of the little one. The chick remains on the nest and the parents take turns to feed it, with neither leaving the vicinity of the nest for much longer than it takes them to feed.
So, next time you visit the Aquarium, take a close look at the hollowed-out rocks on the beach in the Sappi River Meander. These are the penguins’ nests and you might just catch a glimpse of the fluffy penguin chick.
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