Indianapolis Zoo welcomes first Gentoo penguin chicks since 2011
Video provided by Indianapolis Zoo
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis Zoo has welcomed two Gentoo penguin chicks to their family.
Carla Knapp, a spokesperson for the Indianapolis Zoo, said the chicks were born just days before Christmas.
The zoo is also celebrating a milestone. One of the chicks was born to a same-sex pair of penguins, which Knapp says is a first for the zoo.
“Our two male birds became first-time dads when their chick hatched on Dec. 15,” Knapp said in an email to News 8. “A female that’s actually paired with another penguin laid the egg and left it with the all-male couple, who have been caring for it ever since.”
Gentoo penguins co-parent their young.
“Just as a female-male pair would do, the two fathers have taken turns tending the nest, incubating the egg and now feeding the chick,” said Knapp.
The other Gentoo penguin chick hatched to a female-male pair on Dec. 8.
All of the adult penguins are first-time parents.
Knapp said the chicks are the first to have hatched at the zoo since 2012. The chicks are also the first for the zoo’s Gentoo flock since 2011.