Overview
- Adventure Aquarium announced on December 20 that the chicks hatched in early November, bringing its cumulative African penguin total to 52.
- The births follow the December 2024 arrival of siblings Gabby and Shubert, marking a second consecutive year of successful breeding after no hatchlings since 2020.
- Public debut will occur after the chicks replace their down with waterproof feathers and conditions warm, with staff aiming for late winter or early spring.
- Duffy is named for longtime staff member Jen Duffy, while Oscar takes his name from the Oscar Mayer hot dog, reflecting the colony’s playful naming tradition.
- The IUCN reclassified African penguins as Critically Endangered in October 2024, with about 19,800 adults remaining in the wild and experts warning of functional extinction by 2035 without stronger action driven by factors including prey shortages tied to overfishing and documented die-offs at key South African colonies.