There are three new Magellanic penguins to see at the Lisbon Oceanarium
The new inhabitants of the Antarctic Habitat of the Oceanário de Lisboa are not brothers, but they were all born in May with a few days of difference between them.
The three Magellanic penguin chicks returned this month to the exhibition’s Antarctic habitat, after having spent eight weeks in parental care and three weeks away from the eyes of visitors, in preparation for joining the colony and becoming accustomed to human presence.
This iconic species, which was first sighted by Portuguese explorer Fernão de Magalhães precisely 500 years ago, has an average life expectancy of 25 years, reaches an average of 70 centimeters in height and weighs between 4 and 6 kilos. . It is distinguished from similar species – African Penguin and Humbolt – by the black “necklace” they have on their chest.
The three new Oceanário chicks were born weighing around 90 grams, but after two weeks they weighed more than 1 kilogram, now weighing around 3.0 kilograms and a height that already approaches that of some adults in the colony of 31 penguins that inhabit the Lisbon Oceanarium.
