Zookeepers hoping for 2 penguin chicks

Posted: June 9, 2012

Provided by the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens

Magellanic penguins Victoria and Troy would be the parents of the penguin chicks

 

By Heather Lovejoy  

 

Victoria and Troy, Magellanic penguins at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, may be parents by mid-July, zookeepers said.

Victoria was seen displaying behavior typical of a female about to lay an egg, said penguin supervisor Geneve Darnell, and zookeepers found the first one on May 30. She layed another on June 3.

The two eggs, which are close in size to large Grade A chicken eggs found at grocery stores, were taken from the couple and replaced with fake ones, Darnell said. That's because 4-year-old Victoria is young and inexperienced as a parent, she said, and artificially incubating her eggs significantly increases the chance of a successful hatching. Troy is 10 and served as a surrogate father at another zoo, but this would be his first time as a biological father.

Zookeepers should know in a couple of weeks whether the eggs are fertile, she said. If they are, they will be returned to the parents when the chicks break through the inner lining, and are close to hatching. If necessary, zookeepers will assist in caring for the chicks.

It’s not the first time an egg has been found in the Tuxedo Coast exhibit, which opened in March 2010. Darnell said that Victoria layed her first egg in November, but it was not fertile. That is very common with first eggs, she said. The chances of a female penguin laying fertile eggs increases as she gets older.

Overall, penguin breeding in captivity has been very successful, she said, and zookeepers are hopeful.

If the chicks are hatched successfully, it will bring the zoo’s Magellanic penguin population to 13.

source