BIRD-keepers at Dudley Zoo had to p..p...pick-up a penguin left at risk by its mum.
They are hand-rearing a four-week-old Humboldt penguin chick after its mother built a nest on a dangerously- exposed bank.
Curator Matt Lewis said the mum chose not to use nest boxes within the enclosure, putting the youngster at risk.
He said: “We had no other option other than to remove the chick from the bank as it wouldn’t have survived.
“The nest could easily have flooded or the chick may have been taken by a seagull, as it was in a very vulnerable position.”
The chick weighs around 500 grammes and is being fed whole small sprats three times a day, taking around 50g per feed.
The Penguin Camera is located on Torgersen Island (64°46’S, 64°04’W), off the coast of Anvers Island and less than a mile from Palmer Station. Torgersen Island is home to a colony of Adélie penguins numbering approximately 2,500. This camera is seasonal and operates primarily from October to February, the Adélie breeding season. The camera is solar-powered and may sometimes experience brief outages due to inclement weather. School classrooms and other educational demonstrations will often take control of the camera, moving it to gain better views of the colony.
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