The king penguin colony has a new member. On Sept. 20, king penguin father “Dudu” and mother “Meiguai” successfully hatched a chick at Taipei Zoo. “Dudu” is 12 years younger than “Meiguai,” making “Meiguai” something of a “cougar.”
The zoo says that the king penguins finished molting one after another in June, and were ready for breeding once they had put on their “new clothes,” but this year “Dudu” and “Meiguai” are the only couple to have paired up successfully.
Once they have found their match, king penguins always remain inseparable throughout the breeding season. They radiate sweet affection, and if some other penguin accidentally gets too close, he will be chased off by a frontal attack from sharp bills.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Zoo
照片由台北市立動物園提供
The zoo says that “Dudu,” who is nearly five years old, and “Meiguai,” who is approaching 17, are both first-time parents, but both of them have done a good job of brooding the egg and raising the chick. After “Meiguai” laid a single egg on July 27, the penguin parents took turns to brood the egg. Finally, on Sept. 20, the egg hatched, and out came a chick weighing 170g, but whose sex is not yet known. Ever since the day the chick hatched, “Dudu” has been doing the job of raising it.
The zoo used the occasion to remind visitors that its African penguins would not be on display for a while, because of work underway to replace the penguin house’s air conditioning system, and that as work progresses the king penguins would also be taken off display temporarily. Detailed information about these temporary closures will be announced on the zoo’s official Web site.
(Liberty Times, translated by Julian Clegg)
國王企鵝新成員報到。台北市立動物園國王企鵝爸爸「嘟嘟」與媽媽「美乖」九月二十日順利孵化小企鵝。由於「嘟嘟」比「美乖」小十二歲，可說是企鵝裡的姐弟戀。
Photo courtesy of Taipei Zoo
照片由台北市立動物園提供
動物園說，國王企鵝六月陸續完成換羽，換上新衣的國王企鵝隨即進入繁殖狀態，今年只有「嘟嘟」和「美乖」這一對配對成功。
速配成功的國王企鵝整個繁殖季總是形影不離，甜蜜放閃曬恩愛，路過的「企鵝甲」如果不小心靠太近，就會被迎面襲來的尖嘴逼退。
動物園說，快滿五歲的「嘟嘟」和即將十七歲的「美乖」都是新手爸媽，不過兩企鵝不論孵蛋還是育雛，都做得相當到位。七月二十七日「美乖」產下一顆蛋後，夫妻倆就輪流孵蛋，終於在九月二十日破蛋，體重一百七十公克，但還不知性別。從孵化第一天至目前為止，都由「嘟嘟」負責育雛。
Photo courtesy of Taipei Zoo
照片由台北市立動物園提供
另動物園提醒，因應企鵝館冷氣汰換工程，黑腳企鵝已暫停展示，隨著工程進度，國王企鵝隨後也必須暫停展示，詳細停展資訊會公告於動物園官網。
（自由時報記者謝佳君）
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