Woodland Park Zoo celebrates birth of three baby penguins

Today just happens to be World Penguin Day!

The Woodland Park Zoo is celebrating the recent birth of three Humboldt penguins as the world celebrates all penguins.

Three separate sets of parents welcomed three penguin chicks at the end of March and the first week of April.

The penguin parents -- who are likely to mate for life -- shared incubation duties in the nest for 40 to 42 days.

Both parents are also responsible for the day-to-day care of the chicks.

The sex of the chicks is unknown pending DNA testing.

The chicks are off-exhibit in nesting burrows while their parents take care of them.

Before they’re available to the public, the chicks will have around-the-clock access to a shallow pool, where they can learn to swim in a less crowded and more controlled environment.

Zoo officials expect the chicks to join the outdoor habitat and larger pool sometime in the early summer.

There are roughly 32,000 Humboldt penguins in the wild and they are categorized as vulnerable.

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