Rare Humboldt penguin chicks named after constellations at Chester Zoo
Chester Zoo is celebrating a bumper year for its penguin colony after ten rare Humboldt penguin chicks hatched between 16 and 28 April 2025.
The chicks, belonging to one of the world’s most at-risk penguin species, have spent their first weeks tucked away in nest burrows while being closely monitored by keepers.
Humboldt penguins, native to the rocky coastal shores of Peru and Chile, are classified as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). They face threats including climate change, overfishing, and rising ocean temperatures that reduce their food supply.
Both penguin parents share feeding and care duties, supported by keepers who provide extra fish. The adults feed their chicks a nutrient-rich regurgitated mixture. Each chick undergoes regular weigh-ins and health checks, often tripling or quadrupling in size within weeks.
One chick is being raised by a same-sex penguin couple, Scampi and Flounder, who took over one of two eggs originally laid by another pair, Wotsit and Peach. This careful egg-sharing aims to maximise the chicks’ chances of survival.
Keepers say the chicks are just days away from their first swimming lessons at the zoo’s Penguin Island habitat, an exciting milestone where they will begin learning to navigate the water.
Following a long-standing zoo tradition, the conservation team named eight of the chicks after stars and celestial wonders. The names include Ursa, Alcyone, Quasar, Orion, Dorado, Cassiopeia, Altair and Xena.
The final two chicks’ names are being chosen by the public through a vote on Chester Zoo’s social media channels.
Zoe Sweetman, Team Manager of Penguins at Chester Zoo, said:
“Ten chicks hatching in one season marks a bumper year for the penguins here. It’s fantastic news for the species and a brilliant success for the international conservation breeding programme. The fluffy new arrivals are all being looked after brilliantly by their parents, having nearly quadrupled in size since they first emerged!
“They’re now days away from a really exciting milestone – their very first swimming lessons, which is always a thrill to witness as they dive into the pool for the very first time.
“In what has been one of our long-standing traditions, each year we pick a fun theme to help name our chicks, which helps us keep track of who is who now that there are 63 penguins in the colony. This year we’ve gone with a celestial theme for naming the chicks and we’ve had a lot of fun coming up with names inspired by stars, constellations and cosmic wonders. But we’ve saved the final two names for the public, who can help us choose via the zoo’s social media channels.”
Humboldt penguins are social birds that live in large colonies with closely spaced burrows. They can swim at speeds up to 25mph and feed primarily on small fish and crustaceans.
The Chester Zoo penguin colony is part of an international breeding programme to maintain a healthy genetic population and support global conservation efforts.
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