More on the Chattanooga Aquarium Mac Chick

Penguin chick gets spicy name

By: Matt Wilson

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Staff Photo by Margaret Fenton
The smallest macaroni penguin at the Tennessee Aquarium has grown in the last month. Senior aviculturist Amy Graves takes the chick out twice a day so it can grow accustomed to having humans around.

OTHER SUGGESTED NAMES
* Ziti
* Penne
* Rotini
* Velveeta
* Slappy
* Boom-Boom
* Laila Ali
* Stephanie Colbert

Thenewmacaroni penguin chick at the Tennessee Aquarium hatched only about six months ago, but her new name indicates she's a seasoned performer.
"She is a Pepper," Loribeth Aldrich, an aviculturist at the aquarium, said. "She's energetic, unpredictable and feisty."
Aquarium "election officials" chose the name Pepper from almost 1,000 entries in a contest to name the chick, who hatched in June.
Ms. Aldrich said the three penguin keepers at the aquarium were looking for a name that was short, didn't sound too human and was feminine. She said they narrowed the final names to Pepper and Leila, and they thought Pepper was the best choice.
Thom Benson, spokesman for the aquarium, said four people suggested the name Pepper.
"A lot of visitors have wondered about her kind of standing off to one side of the exhibit by herself, thinking maybe she's lonely or the other birds have shunned her," he said. "But no, that's her claim. She's picked that rock, and she's feisty enough she just keeps the other penguins away."
Ms. Aldrich said Pepper, like other penguins, won't respond to the name. She said it's mainly for visitors and keepers to be able to identify her.
Starting Jan. 16, the aquarium will give visitors an opportunity to see Pepper and the other penguins up close and personal, Mr. Benson said. For an extra $15, two groups of six per day can go to a private observation deck and interact with a penguin when keepers open the door to the exhibit.
Visitors will not be allowed to touch the penguins, he said.

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