Endangered African Penguin Chick Born at Lincoln Park Zoo

Chicago (November 6, 2025) – Just in time for the festive holiday season, Lincoln Park Zoo is excited to welcome a new African penguin chick. After a roughly 40-day incubation period, the healthy chick hatched on October 1. The chick continues to hit important early milestones and is being closely monitored by expert Animal Care and veterinary staff. Their sex has not yet been determined. The zoo is asking the public for naming suggestions on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok at @linconlparkzoo with a naming contest to follow.

The egg was laid by African penguin Rosie and her partner Cecil as part of the African Penguin Species Survival Plan (SSP), a collaborative population management effort among the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) institutions. Cecil and Rosie have not had success raising chicks in the past, so the zoo’s Animal Care team made the decision to let penguin pair Liam and Maria foster the chick as they have natural parenting instincts.

“As a critically endangered species, each new African penguin chick represents an immense amount of hope for the species’ future. It’s a true testament to the collective work being done by zoos, field researchers, and conservationists worldwide to turn the tide for African penguins,” said Hope B. McCormick Curator of Birds Nicole Finch-Mason. “It’s been great to see Liam and Maria rise to the occasion as fosters, giving them a chance to experience parenthood regardless of their genetics.”

The chick will continue to reach its developmental milestones behind the scenes, and the care team is hoping to see it exploring outside of its nest box soon. At its most recent veterinary exam, the new penguin weighed in at 4.23 pounds. It will still be a few weeks before the chick joins the rest of the African penguin colony at Robert and Mayari Pritzker Penguin Cove, as it must first fledge and start to swim.

Once hatched, African penguin chicks typically stay in the nest for roughly 12 weeks and are fed by both parents. The chick will retain its downy feathers until it molts into waterproof juvenile plumage. After one to two years, African penguins molt into their iconic tuxedo-like adult plumage.

Lincoln Park Zoo works closely with the AZA’s Saving Animals From Extinction (SAFE) program, which focuses the collective expertise within AZA-accredited facilities to save endangered species. The African penguin is a SAFE priority species due to its decreasing population in the wild, which has gone from 141,000 breeding pairs in 1956 to less than 20,000 today.

African penguins are also called black-footed penguins, due to the color of their feet. They inhabit a costal range from South Africa to Namibia and are the only penguin species that breeds in Africa. The species has developed several heat-regulating adaptations to deal with the higher temperatures in their native range, including patches of exposed pink skin near the eyes through which blood circulates and cools, as well as special muscles that push feathers outward to release trapped heat. These adaptations are what also make African penguins a healthy fit for Chicago’s climate!

Welcome the new chick to Lincoln Park Zoo with an African penguin Adopt package! Visit lpzoo.org/adopt to learn more.

About Lincoln Park Zoo

Lincoln Park Zoo inspires communities to create environments where wildlife will thrive in our urbanizing world. The zoo is a leader in local and global conservation, animal care and welfare, learning, and science. A historic Chicago landmark founded in 1868, the not-for-profit Lincoln Park Zoo is a privately-managed, member-supported organization and is free and open 365 days a year. Visit us at lpzoo.org.