Keepers at RZSS Edinburgh Zoo are absolutely egg-static to announce that the gentoo penguins have started to lay eggs, just in time for Easter.
The gentoos’ annual breeding season kicked off with the placing of nest rings and pebbles into Penguins Rock in March. The penguins then quickly set up nests using the pebbles provided to woo their mates and eggs can now be spotted being tended to by careful parents.
Dawn Nicoll, Senior Keeper working with penguins at RZSS Edinburgh Zoo, said: “It’s great to see the penguins pairing up and settling down with eggs again. We currently have 21 eggs and we hope that over the next few weeks we will see a lot more. Last year we had great success with our gentoo colony and we are hoping to have lots of penguin chicks again this year. The penguin egg incubation period is normally 33-35 days, so we should see the first penguin chicks arrive between the end of April and the beginning of May which is exciting. It’s nice to see them doing so well especially with the species being listed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List”
Reasons for the decline in their populations include oil exploration, increased illegal egg collection, as well as disturbance from tourism which is leading to decreased breeding productivity.
Keepers at the Zoo are hopeful this year for the hatching of rockhopper penguins as well, with 16 rockhopper eggs already laid. This species is difficult to breed and keepers are hoping for the first rockhoppers to hatch at the Zoo in more than eight years. Listed as endangered on the IUCN List, the hatching of northern rockhopper chicks would be hugely beneficial to the conservation of this increasingly threatened penguin species. The rockhoppers have been moved to their own special enclosure during breeding season, which is ideally suited to their natural breeding behaviour.
Penguin fans will be able to watch all the nesting activity and keep an eye on the eggs by watching the RZSS Penguin Cam at http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/webcams/penguin-cam/.
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