UK zoo welcomes endangered African Penguin chicks

The UK's Hertfordshire Zoo has welcomed two new African peŋ.ɡwɪn chicks, named after brothers of the band Oasis.

Liam and Noel hatched at the zoo in August. The head of Birds at the Zoo shared his excitement about the new arrivals.

"They're doing amazingly well, they're settling in great and they're getting bigger and bigger every single day, and they're starting to venture out and join the rest of the gang around the enclosure as well," Tom Clark, said delighted.

The African penguin is native to South Africa and Namibia. However, conservation groups like the SANCOBB have warned that it faces extinction in the wild by 2035 if more is not done to curb the trend.

The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds has partenered with the zoo.

Hertfordshire Zoo supports the body, which works to reintroduce African penguins to their natural habitat. It is notably possible to "adopt the penguin".

"They're an endangered species out in the wild. And they were actually a declining species as well, which is a real, real shame. There's only roughly around 10,000 breeding pairs left out in the wild," Clark says.

Adding it is important to raise awareness: "We're really hopeful that with the, you know, the publicity that this is getting, we've learned now that we can spread the word of what people can do to help try and save African penguins and many other animals out in the wild."

Visitors can now witness Liam and Noel's antics at Hertfordshire Zoo as they explore their new surroundings.