Penguins graduate from San Francisco Zoo Fish School

 

 The San Francisco News, "Penguin chicks join colony at SF Zoo."

"SAN FRANCISCO—On August 1, the San Francisco Zoo celebrated Magellanic penguin chicks Erin and Steve as they graduated from Fish School and joined the penguin colony.

Erin and Steve, graduated
from SF Zoo Fish School

The chicks, born in mid-May, had to learn how to swim and accept hand feeding before they could move in with the adults. At two-and-a-half months old, the chicks are mature enough to live with the rest of the colony.

To commemorate the official entry of the chicks, zoo officials held a March of the Penguins at 10 a.m. Animal handlers led the chicks on a procession around Penguin Island, to their final destination where they could dive into the water and join the colony."   Read article.

Related - South San Francisco Patch/Alexander Nguyen/Bay Cities News Service, 8/2/15. "Colony, congratulations to Erin and Steve!" .... "Several hundred people attended Saturday’s annual celebration, he said. The zoo has the largest colony of Magellenic penguins in any U.S. zoo or aquarium. Magellenic penguins are native to South America, he said. Zookeepers feed the colony twice a day. Erin has a red band on one wing and Steve a blue band, he said."  NBC Bay Area News/Bay City News and Raji Ramanathan, 8/1/15, "Saturday's celebration also included face-painting and crafts, games, and animal artwork. .... Zookeepers feed the colony twice a day. Erin has a red band on one wing and Steve a blue band, he said."

Reference, San Francisco Zoo, March of the Penguins occurred Saturday, August 1, 2015.    Note photographs by Marianne Hale from Bay City News Service articles-- this one from NBC Bay Area.

Posted by Kathy Meeh