Baby chick found dead but zoo is expecting to see more penguin eggs

By abbey buxton abbey.buxton@thepostandtimes.co.uk

A ZOO remains hopeful it will see more baby penguins before the end of the year after its first chick failed to pull through.

Blackbrook Zoological Park, in Winkhill, was delighted when an egg hatched on Monday last week.

However, the tiny Humboldt chick was discovered dead just three days later.

Curator Johnpaul Houston said it was not clear why it had not made it.

He said: "It could have been down to the stormy weather but it also had a crooked navel from where it hadn't hatched cleanly which may have been a factor.

"We're looking at the positives. The parents laid, incubated and hatched the egg themselves and it survived for a few days which is further than we got before.

"There's not really any more we can do. We're not going to hand rear them.

"We just have to let them get on with it and hope they learn from their own experiences."

The park welcomed its first nine penguins from Germany in March 2008. It has boosted numbers to a 25-strong colony with arrivals from zoos in Wales and Chester. They all live in a specially-built £500,000 enclosure.

It has taken two years for the penguins to establish and feel settled and secure before starting to breed.

The keepers have encouraged them by regulating their diet, ensuring the nest boxes are clean and putting in the right soil and sand mix to enable easy burrowing.

There could yet be some new additions before the end of the breeding season which lasts from May to July and November to January.

Johnpaul said: "We did have a second egg but it had not been fertilised, but we are expecting more.

"The penguins are mating and there are two pairs that are currently looking at nesting boxes ready to lay."

Humboldts mate in pairs for eight years before swapping, but it can be sooner if there is no success. Occasionally males can have two partners. The incubation period is 39 days from the egg being laid to hatching.

Johnpaul added: "We're confident we should have more chicks soon. It shouldn't be too difficult once the group's older and more experienced. The Welsh Humboldts in particular are proven experienced breeders."

Humboldts, native to South America, are vulnerable in the wild mainly due to development of their coast habitat. Their faeces are also harvested to use as fertiliser which can leave them nowhere to burrow and lay eggs.

The zoo, which houses 480 different species, has a large breeding programme to help boost the survival chances of endangered creatures.

Keepers have recently enjoyed success nurturing a Darwin's rhea, a large, flightless bird similar to an emu or ostrich.

The bird, named Brian, was kept in a room with heat lamps, chicks and a mirror. It is believed to be the first time the species has been successfully bred in captivity.

Johnpaul said: "Brian is doing very well and is a very strong. We are very pleased with him.

"We've also successfully bred a secretary bird and a Florida fanned hill crane.

"It's been a mixed year but the breeding season hasn't come round yet for some species, so hopefully we'll have more babies soon."

The zoo has only ever reintroduced one species into the wild, a mountain peacock pheasant, after a request by the Wild Pheasant Association.