TAMPA, Florida -- Home to the only breeding colony of African penguins in the state of Florida, Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo has welcomed chick number 9 to its rookery of 15 endangered penguins.
Zoo officials say the newest chick, the first of 2015, hatched June 15 to experienced parents "Amber" and "Violet." The chick, whose gender is yet to be determined, weighed 160 grams on June 19 (first weight) and had more than doubled its weight to 512 grams on June 28.
At about six weeks old, the chick will transition from the parents to the aviary care team to facilitate independence and learning to swim before ultimately joining the colony on exhibit later this year.
In their range country of South Africa, penguin colonies are declining at an alarming rate: more than 60 percent in the past three decades. The dramatic population decline is attributed to a combination of factors: reduced food supply due to commercial fisheries; changes in habitat due to shifting prey populations; and catastrophic events including oil spills.
At the current rate, scientists estimate the species may trend toward extinction within 20 years. In 1956, there were an estimated 141,000 breeding of African penguins. By last year, the total had plummeted to only 19,000 pairs - a loss of nearly 90 percent in half a century.
Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo opened its African penguin habitat in 2007, with the first chick hatched in 2011. In 2014, the Zoo launched an initiative known as "Protecting African Penguins" to double the size of its penguin nursery to have more room to raise more chicks. Individuals or businesses that wish to contribute to the Protecting African Penguins initiative can visit www.LowryParkZoo.org/Penguins.
In addition to helping to raise the number of penguins in the managed population in North America, Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo also helps to support the wild penguin population by partnering with organizations in South Africa dedicated to protecting coastal penguin habitats.
source
Mom Amber
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