P..p..p..penguin school has begun!
A summer school for five penguin chicks has opened for the Class of 2015.
Summer holiday countdown might be on for children in Wales, but for another set of youngsters, ‘school’ is about to start.
The first two penguin chicks at Folly Farm have fledged from the nest and been taken into a special penguin nursery enclosure where they will learn key penguin survival skills.
All five penguin chicks at the zoo have been named after Disney characters - Cogsworth, Bagheera, Abu, Scuttle and Thumper.
After a few months at 'Penguin school' they will graduate back into the penguin community in a few months' time.
In the wild, half of all penguin chicks won’t survive by themselves. As they are an endangered species, Folly Farm is one of many zoos that takes the young penguins into a nursery enclosure until their waterproof feathers are fully grown, and they have learned to eat independently.
Folly Farm currently has 35 penguins, including the five new chicks. The eldest penguin, at 22 years of age, is Holly, closely followed by her partner of some 20 years, Harry. Penguin life expectancy is around 22 in the wild and 30 in captivity.