02:16Baby penguins waddle in through zoo in annual rite of passage
A celebrative ceremony was held at the San Francisco zoo on Saturday for five penguin chicks who graduated from a so-called "Fish School, "which is considered their first waddles into adulthood.
The penguins were filmed waddling down a lane, lined by dozens of zoo visitors who cheering the penguins on. At the end of the march, the penguins took their first swim with the rest of the adults in the penguin enclosure.
"Today is our 35th annual March of the Penguins. Today is the graduation day for our baby penguins. We have five babies that are going to be coming down and joining the rest of our group here at the San Francisco zoo. We have 51 penguins total now," said Anthony Arguello, San Francisco zookeeper.
"After the parents have enough time with the babies, we take them to a separate area. All the babies stay together. And what we do there is we teach them how to eat from our hands because we have to individually feed these birds to make sure they get the right nutrients. So, it's called Fish School," explained Arguello.
"In that time they learn to get comfortable around people, to eat from our hands, we make sure they're good and healthy, and then they develop their waterproof feathers, or adult feathers, and once they get all those things, they can come out graduate and be with the rest of the penguins here," he added.
02:16A celebrative ceremony was held at the San Francisco zoo on Saturday for five penguin chicks who graduated from a so-called "Fish School, "which is considered their first waddles into adulthood.
The penguins were filmed waddling down a lane, lined by dozens of zoo visitors who cheering the penguins on. At the end of the march, the penguins took their first swim with the rest of the adults in the penguin enclosure.
"Today is our 35th annual March of the Penguins. Today is the graduation day for our baby penguins. We have five babies that are going to be coming down and joining the rest of our group here at the San Francisco zoo. We have 51 penguins total now," said Anthony Arguello, San Francisco zookeeper.
"After the parents have enough time with the babies, we take them to a separate area. All the babies stay together. And what we do there is we teach them how to eat from our hands because we have to individually feed these birds to make sure they get the right nutrients. So, it's called Fish School," explained Arguello.
"In that time they learn to get comfortable around people, to eat from our hands, we make sure they're good and healthy, and then they develop their waterproof feathers, or adult feathers, and once they get all those things, they can come out graduate and be with the rest of the penguins here," he added.