With Pembrokeshire's Folly Farm welcoming its first ever Macaroni penguin chick to its Penguin Coast exhibit, penguin keepers Catrin Thomas and Caroline (Caz) Davies have said how delighted they are with the new arrival.
Caz Davies, one of the zoo’s Assistant Managers and Penguin Keepers enthused; "We're beyond thrilled that Ravioli is growing strong and continuing to do so well. This is so exciting for us as keepers. To welcome our first Macaroni penguin chick to the colony will hopefully mean we can have more successful breeding for this species as well as with our Humboldt penguins, as part of the European Breeding Programme."
Caz Davies, one of the zoo’s Assistant Managers and Penguin Keepers enthused; "We're beyond thrilled that Ravioli is growing strong and continuing to do so well. This is so exciting for us as keepers. To welcome our first Macaroni penguin chick to the colony will hopefully mean we can have more successful breeding for this species as well as with our Humboldt penguins, as part of the European Breeding Programme."
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AnimalsTranscript
00:00Here at Folly Farm we have two types of penguins. We have Humboldt penguins and Macaroni penguins.
00:06Our Humboldt penguins we've successfully bred for years and we've had five more chicks this year.
00:12But this year is extra exciting because we've actually had a Macaroni chick hatch.
00:17They are all part of the European breeding programme.
00:20So this is such exciting news, not just for us but the whole breeding programme across all zoos in Europe.
00:27So the Humboldt penguins are the smaller of the two and they've got very spotty bellies.
00:32And then our Macaroni penguins have yellow crest feathers just above their eyes and they're a little bit larger than the Humboldts.
00:39So the Macaronis are a lot more chilled and they're very laid back.
00:43They'll take their time to eat their fish whereas the Humboldt penguins are very boisterous and they like to run rings around the keepers.
00:51So now Ravioli, our adorable Macaroni chick, is eight weeks old.
00:56So time's really flown. It was a lovely surprise for all of us.
01:00We obviously knew the parents would start on eggs but they're not always fertile so you're never quite sure and you don't want to get your humps up too much.
01:08But yeah, absolutely came down first thing in the morning and there they were all cuddling over this adorable little Macaroni chick.
01:16Really fluffy. So sweet.
01:19So Ravioli is absolutely a mummy's boy.
01:23We can tell that she absolutely adores him and he absolutely adores her.
01:29So yeah, proper little cute little boy and really quite shy.
01:36But I think, you know, he's still quite young and as he gets a little bit braver he might be a bit more like his dad then.
01:43We've now moved Ravioli and his two parents into our penguin nursery area.
01:48This is to give them some time to settle in and have some peace and quiet away from some of the Macaroni penguins who are very interested and keen in welcoming Ravioli to the penguin huddle.
01:59So we can keep an extra eye on them in there and make sure that he knows how to eat whole fish on his own.
02:05And then we're really looking forward to bringing him back into Penguin Coast so you can all enjoy him too.
02:12Bye.