Aquarium welcomes penguin chicks after 10 years

Cape Town’s Two Oceans Aquarium recently welcomed two new chicks to its African penguin colony for the first time in a decade.

The African penguin is the only penguin species native to the African continent and was recently uplisted to critically endangered status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List of Threatened Species.

The two chicks, Ember and Echo, were named in honour of their critically endangered species.

“An ember is a tiny flame that has the potential and power to grow bigger while an echo reverberates and impacts long after the original voice quiets. In this line of thinking, our Ember and Echo represent the future hope for the African penguin species,” said the Two Oceans Aquarium.

Take a look at Ember and Echo below:

Ember after hatching. Source: Two Oceans Aquarium
Ember during hand-feeding. Source: Two Oceans Aquarium
Echo after hatching. Source: Two Oceans Aquarium
Echo after a hand-feeding session. Source: Two Oceans Aquarium