SINGAPORE: Jurong Bird Park has seen the arrival of its first baby king penguins in more than a year with the hatching of three new chicks, Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) announced in a news release on Monday (May 27).
Percy, Brix and Arlo mark the park’s first king penguin chicks since the arrival of Maru in October 2017. They hatched on Feb 22, Mar 3 and Mar 10 respectively. Each weighed more than 200g at the time.
King penguins are the world’s second largest penguin (after the emperor penguin), according to WRS. They can weigh up to 15kg and live up to 30 years under human care.
The three chicks were artificially incubated at the park’s breeding and research centre, before being introduced to the rest of the colony after a couple of months.
Percy, the oldest of the new king penguin chicks, is introduced to the rest of the colony. (Photo: Wildlife Reserves Singapore).
They are currently on a diet of herring and capelin and are fed three times a day.
The chicks’ arrivals take the park’s king penguin population to 17. Jurong Bird Park exhibits six species of penguin in total: African, Gentoo, Humboldt, King, Macaroni and the Rockhopper.
Visitors can see the new chicks at the park’s indoor Penguin Coast exhibit.
