Grieving ‘Akio’
We're heartbroken to share that last month, we made the compassionate decision to euthanize our 15-year-old male gentoo penguin ‘Akio’, following a rapid decline in his health. In 2013, Akio showed clinical…
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Bite-Sized
Introducing ‘Rafael’
August 09, 2023 | 1 minute read
There’s exciting news in Penguin Plunge! Our Humboldt chick now officially has a name!
We are thrilled to announce that our newest addition has been named ‘Rafael’. This name is a nod to the Laguna San Rafael National Park, which is located on the Pacific coast of Southern Chile. Humboldt penguins are endemic to the warmer climates of Peru and Chile and swim in the chilly Humboldt Current.
At two months old, Rafael weighs 3.5 kilograms and is already losing some of his downy feathers in a juvenile molt, which is called a “fledge”. For Gentoo and Humboldt penguins, this typically happens around three months of age – much sooner than king penguins, which are between eight and eleven months old when they first molt!
Rafael won’t look grown-up quite yet, and for now, he can be identified by his greyish feathers before he takes on his adult ‘tuxedo’ of black and white feathers.
Waddle on over to Penguin Plunge to greet Rafael by name!
Humboldt chick ‘Rafael’