Wrinkly little chick is Britain's first baby king penguin in five years

• Chick hatches at the only breeding colony of king penguins in Britain  
• Park keepers at Birdland in Gloucestershire will have to rear it by hand
• New arrival to be fed liquidised fish from bottle to mimic its diet in the wild  
• Penguin not given a name as staff don't yet know whether it's male or female

By Ian Broad for MailOnline

Published: 9 September 2014

Wills and Kate are not the only royals with news of a new arrival - keepers of Britain's only breeding colony of king penguins are celebrating the appearance of the first chick to be hatched there in five years.

The wrinkly, grey chick may not look like much, but staff at Birdland are heralding its arrival as a breakthrough in breeding at the park in Bourton on the Water, Gloucestershire. It is the first of three king penguin eggs to hatch this year. The park had previously not welcomed new king penguin chicks into the world since 2009.

Bird in the hand: The chick is the first royal penguin to hatch at the Birdland park in Gloucestershire since 2009

Keepers now have to rear the chick by hand, monitoring it 24 hours a day to ensure it makes it through to adulthood. They feed it using a bottle full of fish that has been liquidised in a blender to replicate the food it would be given by its parents in the wild. And despite being native to freezing Antarctic climes, the vulnerable chick has not yet developed feathers so it is kept in an incubator to keep it warm while it grows.

Cuddly companion: Keepers have placed a toy penguin in the chick's box so that it becomes used to other birds

Staff have even put a toy penguin in its box so it can get used to the look of other penguins. Simon Blackwell, the park's manager, said: "The birth of our new arrival is quite something. 'We are part of a European breeding programme for king penguins and have the UK's only breeding colony, but our penguins hadn't laid fertile eggs for five years up until now. This year they laid six eggs, three of which were fertile. One egg has already hatched and the penguin chick is doing very well indeed."

Growing up fast: Staff at the park measure the little king penguin who they say is 'getting stronger by the day'

"So far everything has been going to plan - we have to hand-rear the chick and have been feeding it a diet of liquidised fish with a few fish fillets. It is getting stronger by the day. It is very hard to tell the sex of a penguin before it reaches maturity. Once it gets to about eight weeks old we will take a small sample of its feathers and run some DNA tests to find out if it is male or female."

Boy or girl? DNA will have to be taken and tested in order to tell the bird's sex - only then will it get a name

Ugly duckling: The baby bird has yet to grow its distinctive feathers that help to protect it in its native Antarctica

King size: The king penguins are the second largest species of penguin and can grow as tall as three feet

'There have been plenty of suggestions for names but we will have to hold off giving it a name until that point.'

King penguins - Aptenodytes patagonicus in Latin - are the second largest species of penguin, growing as tall as three feet and weighing up to 2.5 stones. They are distinguishable by their orange-tinted breasts, cheeks and beaks. In the wild they live off small fish and squid and are native to the islands of northern Antarctica.

Edinburgh Zoo is famously home to Sir Nils Olav, a king penguin which in 1972 was appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Norwegian Royal Guard.

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