King penguin chick shows up at Vienna zoo

Thu Sep 22, 2016 

A King penguin chick hatched at Vienna's Schoenbrunn Zoo four weeks ago, has emerged from the folds of a protective parent's body.

The zoo published pictures and video footage on Thursday of the little gray bird with its much larger and more brightly colored parents. King penguins are the second-biggest species of penguin after Emperor penguins.

"It hatched on Aug. 30 but was hidden for a long time in a fold of one of its parents' bellies," the zoo said, referring to the fact that King penguins keep their eggs and young chicks warm by wedging them between their feet and their soft paunch.

Two king penguins and their chick stand in their enclosure in the zoo of Schoenbrunn in Vienna, Austria, September 21, 2016. Picture taken September 21, 2016. Tiergarten Schoenbrunn/Daniel Zupanc/Handout via REUTERS

 

"In the meantime, the little one has grown so much that there is not enough room on its parent's feet," it added.

As with all King penguins of its age, the chick's gender is not yet clear and will be determined by a genetic testing of its feathers, the zoo said.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

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