Lansing’s Latest Celebs: 2024 Penguin Chicks at Potter Park Zoo
Lansing, Michigan: Potter Park Zoo is at it again, adding two more penguins to its roster in 2024. Apparently, Skipper and Jayde, the zoo's star Magellanic penguin parents who are always ready for a formal affair, couldn't resist the urge to expand their family.
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After successfully hatching Sweeney in 2023, they've doubled down this year with twins! That's right because, clearly, one fluffy ball of cuteness isn't enough for these Lansing, Michigan, overachievers.
Lansing's Potter Park Zoo's Sweeney Got Some Company
Remember Sweeney? The penguin who hatched last year on July 6 probably thought he'd be the center of attention forever. Well, not anymore, Sweeney! With these 2024 additions, Sweeney's days of being an only child were officially over on June 16, 2024, and again on June 19, when his siblings hatched at the Potter Park Zoo.
The zoo hasn't experienced this kind of penguin "productivity" in over a decade, and Skipper and Jayde are getting high praise for their parenting skills.
Penguin Parenting: It's a Regurgitation Station
If you thought being a human parent was tough, try being a Magellanic penguin. Those 2 a.m. feedings with a crying baby might seem like a catwalk, considering Skipper and Jayde take turns feeding their chicks pre-chewed and regurgitated food. Yum. However, in recent days, the chicks have begun to trust the chicks' second set of helicopter parents, the Potter Park Penguin Care Team, as you can see in the video below:
Stay Tuned for the Big Reveal of Lansing's Newest Magellanic Penguin Chicks
If you, like me, are wondering when we can see the newest additions to Potter Park Zoo, the answer is we'll have to wait a bit. But once their juvenile feathers come in and the care team gives them the OK, they'll make their big debut with a splash. Until then, keep up with the hatchlings and all of Potter Park's animals on their social accounts. We'll let you know as soon as we find out, though.
Michigan Zoos, 1910s-1950s
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Gallery Credit: Stacker