Chester Zoo keepers name nine freshly hatched Humboldt penguins after their favourite fruits

Nine adorable penguin chicks have been named after keepers' favourite fruits at Chester Zoo.

The Humboldt penguins are named Plum, Peach, Papaya, Cherry, Rhubarb, Banana, Lemon and Iona-Berry.

Sophie Bissaker, Parrots and Penguins Keeper at the zoo, said: “There’s nothing quite like hearing tiny chirps coming from the penguin nests and seeing little balls of fluff snuggled up with their parents just moments after hatching."

She continued: “Zookeepers have a trend of naming the penguins using a different theme each year and previously we’ve had brands of crisps, chocolate bars and in 2020, our NHS Heroes."

The keepers named them in honour of a vet who saved the penguins' dad Munch’s eyesight last year.

Since emerging from their eggs, the chicks have spent the early weeks of their life tucked inside their nests being cared for by their parents.

Sophie said: “For the first three months of life, mum and dad keep their new chicks tucked away while they feed and nurture them.

"To help them gain weight while they’re so young, we provide the parents with extra fish which they swallow, churn into a high-protein soup and regurgitate at feeding times."

The Humboldt penguins have begun swimming lessons where they will learn how to catch food for themselves.

"In a few weeks they’ll shed their fluffy grey feathers to reveal their iconic black and white feathers underneath, which are waterproof and help them zoom through the water!”

The chicks hatched at a weight of just 80 grams and will triple in size in the first three weeks of their life - soon they will reach three kilograms, like their parents.Humboldt penguins are listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as they are becoming less common in places where they were once found in abundance.The birds are native to Peru and Chile and face a number of threats such as climate change, over-fishing of their natural food sources and rising acidity and temperature levels in the oceans – causing the penguins to search further from their nests for fish and increasing their vulnerability to predators.