2 penguin chicks make public debut under watchful eye of stuffed animal acting as their mom


Two baby penguins have made their public debut at the London Zoo under the watchful eye of their makeshift mama — a stuffed animal.

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When the Humboldt penguin chicks hatched days after Easter, the zoo deemed the parents unable to care for them, AP reported.

See photos of the little chicks:

The chicks were looked after by keepers in the zoo's custom-built incubation room, and hand-fed a "fish shake" three times a day. The shake is made of chunks of fish, saline solution and vitamins.

"We want to mimic what parents do in the wild," penguin keeper Zuzana Matyasova said in a Zoological Society of London video.

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When the chicks reach 10 weeks old, they will be ready to be moved to the zoo's "penguin nursery," where they will learn to swim in a shallow pool and meet the other 70 penguins in their colony.

Watch: Mom Gives Birth to Daughter at Nebraska Zoo: 'It Was Truly a Blessed Experience'

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