Guangdong ocean park celebrates baby penguins arrival

A baby emperor penguin peeks out from under his father's thick coat at Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai, Guangdong province. Photo by Qiu Quanlin/chinadaily.com.cn

Two emperor penguins have successfully hatched at an ocean-themed park in Guangdong province.

The two baby penguins, named Liuliu and En'en, weighed just 250 grams and 231 grams when they hatched on June 2 and 17 at the Zhuhai Chimelong Ocean Kingdom. It took 66 days for the first egg to hatch and 66 hours for the little chick to make its way out of the shell.

It's the second time this year baby penguins have hatched at such a low latitude in Asia.

Two penguins, named PP and EE, hatched at the Zhuhai-based ocean park in August and are in good condition, weighing 25.2 kilograms and 20.5 kilograms respectively.

Breeding emperor penguins in captivity has always been challenging as the eggs may not be fertilized when the females lay them.

Usually, the female emperor penguin lays one egg each season and transfers it to the male to keep warm until it hatches.

The park's female emperor penguins have so far laid 23 eggs, 16 of which have hatched.