Penguins p-pick up the pace for record breeding season

Three Humboldt penguin chicks, an endangered species, have been successfully bred this year.

The newest edition, nicknamed Dangermouse, joins Hazel and Barnacles who were born at the end of March.

However, unlike Hazel and Barnacles, who were hand-reared when they weren’t gaining any weight, Georgie and Krusty, Dangermouse’s parents, were finally able to rear the little one themselves.

Lyndsey Crawford-Darwell, head of animal care, said: “In the past Georgie hasn’t been the best parent and we’ve had to hand-rear her chicks. But this seems to have been the year it clicked and she and Krusty have been brilliant.

“They’re quite unorthodox parents, choosing to nest under a plastic box right next to walkway that our guests use to walk through the enclosure rather than using one of the specially designed nesting boxes.

“Over the past week, Dangermouse seems to have been testing his parent’s patience as they’ve kicked him out of the nesting box to venture into the enclosure. In the next few weeks he will learn how to behave around the other penguins and start swimming in the pools.”

Sealife Scarborough staff have been running the penguin breeding programme since 2006.