New king penguin hatchling born in Selwo Marina
The parents of the last king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) born at the end of August, Mei and Ariel, are very protective of the chick, whose sex is still unknown. This chick is the ninth king penguin to be born in Selwo Marina since the first hatchling of this subspecies, the second largest on the planet, arrived in 2008.
As the head of conservation at Selwo Marina, Craig Allum, points out, the cautious behaviour of the pair featured in this news item could be due to the fact that "at birth, the calf was slightly smaller than usual", which could have accentuated the protective instinct of both mother and father.
Its characteristic brown plumage is not yet waterproof.
The young, which become independent between 12 and 16 months after birth, are characteristically covered with brown, non-waterproof down, and are therefore dependent on their parents as they cannot venture into the cold ocean waters until they moult into adult plumage.
Selwo Marina has the only breeding colony in Andalusia of this species, included in the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Last year another birth also took place, in this case the offspring of Noel and Totoro, which has been fully integrated into the community of our park, made up of four different species of penguins, for months.
