First Macaroni Penguin Chick For Folly Farm
We have two species of penguins that reside at the Penguin Coast habitat. Our ‘OG’s’, the Humboldt penguins, who arrived with us in 2013 and the Macaroni’s who arrived during lockdown in 2020. We were in a position to help out a fellow collection, ‘Living Coasts’ in Devon, who sadly closed post-pandemic and needed to find a new home for their colony of Macaroni penguins – so we welcomed them with open, er…Flippers? We’ve since been the only collection in the UK currently housing this particular species of penguin.
The two species have thrived and co-habited happily at Penguin Coast ever since. We’ve celebrated hugely successful breeding seasons for many years with our Humboldt penguins as part of the European Breeding Programme for the species as part of our membership with EAZA, and the keepers have welcomed over 40 penguin chicks since their arrival – but we’ve unfortunately had little success with breeding the Macaroni penguins which species seem to be extremely difficult to breed in captivity in the UK…until now!
Penguin keepers were surprised and delighted to discover a newly hatched Macaroni penguin chick several weeks ago when carrying out their checks on the animals during breeding season, which they now know is a male who they’ve fondly named ‘Ravioli’. Some of our guests may have even been lucky enough to have spotted him in the enclosure during one of their visits.
A first for our penguin team, the keepers soon discovered that the other Macaroni penguins in the colony were getting a bit too close for comfort and their curious nature meant Ravioli was being disturbed in his nest. Not wanting to cause stress to the floofy new arrival or his parents – keepers moved Ravioli along with mum and dad, into the safety of the Penguin Nursery, an off-display section where he can remain in the protective care of mum and dad, grow his waterproof feathers and learn how to feed on whole fish, before heading back to join the main colony when he can confidently fend for himself.
The team have completely fallen in love with Ravioli’s beautiful, quiet nature and despite growing quickly at now eight weeks old – he still remains extremely fluffy and adorably chunky, putting on weight each day. All very positive signs that he’ll be able to join the main colony when he’s strong enough.
“We’re beyond thrilled that Ravioli is growing strong and continuing to do so well. This is so exciting for us as keepers. To welcome our first Macaroni penguin chick to the colony will hopefully mean we can have more successful breeding for this species as well as with our Humboldt penguins, as part of the European Breeding Programme.”
Caz Davies Penguin keeper and Assistant Zoo Manager
Ravioli is currently off display to guests – but we hope to welcome him back into the main colony soon. Keep an eye on our social channels for more adorable updates and perfect penguin pics until then!