Easter penguin chick to be named after Kate Middleton or Prince William to give it the best start in life

26/04/2011

Humboldt Penguin (pic: PA)

A penguin hatched on Easter Sunday and abandoned by its mother is to be named after Kate Middleton or Prince William, to give it the best start in life.

The two-day-old Humboldt chick is being hand-reared by staff at London Zoo who hope the feisty bird will live up to its name.

The grey chick, which is called Egg until they know its gender, is being fed through a syringe and kept in a incubator, suitably wrapped in a Union flag to keep it warm.

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Staff say the bird was rejected by its mother before it hatched last Sunday.

Adrian Walls, deputy team leader of birds at the zoo, said that tests would be done when the chick is 10 weeks old to find out the gender. It will be called Kate if it's a girl or William if it is a boy.

Mr Walls said: "The penguin is too young to look after itself, so we are hand feeding it. We are just waiting to find out the sex to give it a proper name."

Penguins are one of few animals in the wild which mate for life, so when Egg grows up he could find his own penguin prince, or princess.

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