Humboldt penguin hatches at Cotswolds wildlife attraction

Keepers at a Cotswolds wildlife attraction are celebrating the hatching of a Humboldt penguin chick.

The chick, which hatched in May at Birdland in Bourton-on-the-Water, is the first to have hatched out this year and is doing well.

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Birdland is home to a colony of captive-bred Humboldt penguins who live alongside England’s only group of king penguins.

Head Keeper Alistair Keen said: “We’re very pleased with how the chick’s progressing. A couple of years ago we created a series of nesting sites within the rockwork of their display and it has definitely worked as we’re expecting more eggs to hatch out soon."

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Two king penguin eggs have also been laid at the attraction. They have been placed into an incubator to help ensure they hatch.

The Humboldt is a South American penguin, which can be found in and around coastal Peru and Chile. It gets its name from the cold water current it swims in, which was discovered by the explorer Alexander von Humboldt.

In the wild, the penguins are under threat from climate change, overfishing and the acidification of the oceans. They are now officially listed as ‘Vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. That means they are at immediate or imminent risk of becoming endangered.

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