11 Juvenile African Penguins, All Named After McCormick Spices, Make Debut At Maryland Zoo
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- There are 11 juvenile penguins who were recently hatched at the Maryland Zoo who just made their official debut to the African penguin habitat!
All of them are named after spices, and are now living in the nearly 100 bird colony. The penguins hatched between October 2019 and January 2020 and were being raised behind the scenes by the animal care team.
Their names are: Sage, Fennel, Dill, Za'atar, Bay, Parsley, Ginger, Loomi, Woodruff, Coriander and Sesame.
"They get in the pool and they're off swimming with all of the other birds," a Maryland Zoo spokesperson said. "The spring and fall are the best times they really like to swim."
Chicks are named each year with a different theme, and this year, the Penguin Coast team selected spices as the naming theme.
The Zoo partnered with Maryland-based McCormick & Company for the naming contest, name announcement and sustainable seafood recipes to help support penguin conservation.
Though the Zoo is closed to the public amid the coronavirus pandemic, they will be doing "ZOO TO YOU" videos, posted daily at 11 a.m. on the Zoo's Facebook page, and will give links to live animal cams so families can still check in on the animals.
"For us, it's business as usual," a Maryland Zoo spokesperson said. "The animals need to be taken care of. We have split our teams into two to decrease the chances of contaminating each other."