May 9, 2019 | 12:09pm
San Diego Zoo's animal care staff weight one of the first chicks born at the San Diego Zoo African Penguin colony in San Diego, Calif.
AP
Doug and Barbara are the first chicks born at the San Diego Zoo from eggs laid by the African Penguin Colony's resident penguin couples.
AP
San Diego Zoo's animal care staff weight one of the first chicks born at the San Diego Zoo African Penguin colony in San Diego, Calif.
AP
Doug and Barbara are the first chicks born at the San Diego Zoo from eggs laid by the African Penguin Colony's resident penguin couples.
AP
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Zoo has two new arrivals: a pair of endangered African penguin chicks.
The zoo announced Wednesday that the fluffy chicks, named Doug and Barbara, hatched two months ago.
The eggs came from two breeding couples. The zoo says it’s the first time eggs laid by its adult penguins have hatched there.
Staff has been working with the chicks to get them used to humans before they are introduced into the penguin colony in the next few weeks.
African penguins are an endangered species. Their numbers have dropped by more than 60 percent in the past three decades and only 23,000 breeding pairs are known to exist.
The decline is blamed on several factors, including disease, habitat destruction and lack of food from overfishing, climate change and pollution.
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