The Denver Zoo’s African penguin flock is just a little fluffier this week after a recently born chick was released from the intensive care unit, zoo officials said.
The chick was born Oct. 15 to breeding pair Guja and Keni but had a serious respiratory disease that required around-the-clock care, according to a statement from the Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance.
For the first two months of its life, the still-unnamed chick was hand-reared by animal care and animal health experts in the zoo’s Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Animal Hospital’s Small Animal Intensive Care Unit, zoo officials said.
Zoo officials said the chick’s recovery was “nothing short of remarkable.”
“Now a thriving young chick, this fluffball graduated from the ICU and is back behind the scenes at Pinnacol African Penguin Point,” zoo officials said on social media. “It’s growing well, chowing down on fish and showing a calm, curious personality.”
It’ll still be a few weeks before the chick is ready to officially be introduced to the rest of the flock and venture into the outdoor habitat, zoo officials said.
Male and female African penguins look almost identical, so animal experts at the zoo will need to run a DNA test to determine the chick’s gender, according to zoo officials.
“All Zoo babies are precious, but it’s even more special when we have a success with a Critically Endangered species,” Denver Zoo officials said in the post.
African penguins were reclassified in July from Endangered to Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
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