Chicks get creche course in social skills

Photo / Greg Bowker

Kelly Tarlton's staff member Michelle du Preez feeds gentoo penguin chicks in their very own creche. The new facility is designed to keep them separated from their parents and to teach them social skills.

Ten gentoo penguin chicks have hatched this season at the underwater world, which has the country's only breeding programme. Gentoo penguins, which are are listed as "near threatened" on the World Conservation Union red list, can be found in the sub-Antarctic islands including South Georgia, Falklands and Kerguelen islands.