Birdland Park and Gardens in Bourton-on-the-Water, situated in the Cotswolds, has celebrated the hatching of a king penguin chick - the first successful hatch in the UK for 12 years. The chick joined the park’s family of king penguins on Thursday, 20 August, following nearly two months of attentive incubation.
The park shared a video of the chick, highlighting the significance of the milestone: “This new chick is the first King Penguin to successfully hatch in the UK in 12 years, making this news extra special! The next few weeks will be an important time and our specialist team are carefully monitoring every feed and weigh-in, whilst celebrating each milestone along the way.”
Weighing just 188g at birth, the chick arrived after a suspenseful waiting period. The egg was laid by the pair named French and Frank. Notably, Frank was the father of Spike, the last king penguin chick hatched at Birdland and indeed in the UK back in 2014.
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Alistair Keen, Head of Living Collection at Birdland Park & Gardens, expressed the team’s joy: “This is an incredibly special moment for everyone at Birdland. When the egg was first laid, we had several reasons to be cautious - French was a first-time breeder, Frank is elderly by king penguin standards, and the egg itself was smaller than average. But nature has surprised us in the best possible way.
“To have the first successful king penguin hatch in the UK since 2014 is fantastic in itself, but the fact that the previous successful hatch also happened here at Birdland makes it particularly special.”
King penguins, the world’s second largest penguin species after the emperor penguin, are easily identified by their striking black, white, and golden yellow plumage.
Explaining the next steps, Alistair added: “The chick was just 188g at hatch and is now being hand-reared by our team. Although reaching this point is a huge milestone, there is still much work ahead. We are monitoring it extremely closely. Every feed and every bit of weight gained is an encouraging step forward.
“We’ve been watching and waiting for almost two months, so finally seeing that little chick emerge from the egg was a wonderful moment for the entire team.”
He also reflected on the timing of the hatch during the summer heat: “People tend to associate penguins with ice, snow and freezing temperatures, so the timing has certainly made us smile. While others have been talking about how to keep cool this summer, we’ve been focusing on one very important little penguin.
“There’s a long way to go and we won’t take anything for granted, but we’re very pleased with the progress so far.”