​Poppy

This 5-year old female yellow-eyed penguin is back with her old mate - new house though. They have a couple of fertile eggs that are due to hatch in the first week of November. She is extra-special because was sponsored as a chick and has now been breeding for three years. There are never guarantees with chick sponsorships because many chicks don't make it back but sometimes a sponsor gets lucky and gets to follow the full life of one of these long-lived penguins.
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Hatching has started and we have about a dozen tiny tots in our colonies. They are way too small to take any photos to share, and we are now super busy monitoring them closely to see if they have Diphtheria. All fingers and toes crossed, the penguins have started breeding early and that's usually a sign for a good year.