Cincinnati Zoo makes decision on what to name its new baby penguins
CINCINNATI (WKRC) - You may remember that the Cincinnati Zoo was asking for name suggestions for the newest additions to its penguin family, and you may also remember that it narrowed down the choices to its favorite two.
The zoo then took to social media, and asked for followers to vote between two names: "Toast" or "Pierogi". The winner would be the name of a newborn penguin that was hatched on New Year's Eve.
Well, the results are in, and the winner is... both! Or, really the winner of the contest was "Pierogi", but the bird team liked the runner-up name "Toast" so much that they are going to give that name to another penguin chick that hatched on December 28th.
"We usually follow a theme when choosing names for certain species, and the little blue penguin theme is food and drink," said Cincinnati Zoo's associate curator Jennifer Gainer. "Since the chick being named was born on New Year's Eve, we got a lot of suggestions like Champagne, Dom, Bubbly, etc... We really liked Toast."
The Cincinnati Zoo is home to the largest colony of the smallest penguin species, blue penguins, thanks to the husbandry expertise of the Zoo's staff.
“We have two eggs in the incubator that are viable and looking good,” said Sowers. “There’s also a chance that we could see more eggs in the next couple of weeks.”
The newborns will be reintroduced to the colony when they are around 6-weeks-old. The Bird team feeds them a mixture of herring, krill and Pedialyte five times a day. They are both reportedly eating well and one has already opens its eyes.
In celebration of "Penguin Days", the Cincinnati Zoo is hosting "Penguin Parades" and is offering half-price admission from January 5th until March 8th.
The zoo opens daily at 10 a.m.
Half-price tickets are:
- $10.50 for adults
- $6.50 children and seniors (Children aged 2-12; Seniors aged 62+)
- FREE for children under the age of 2
Parking is $10.
You can buy tickets online here.
