It's once again time for the march of the (baby) penguins in San Francisco! These three little birds waddle their way across the SF Zoo to their new home at Penguin Island. While 44 penguins live on the island already, these Magellanic chicks were raised behind the scenes at the Avian Conservation Center before making this walk of fame in front of an admiring audience.
See more of the chicks' stroll and read more
All eyes were on some other Magellanic penguins at the San Francisco Zoo a couple weeks back— remember the love triangle of Harry, Pepper, and Linda? To recap that soap opera story, male Pepper got a new home when Harry took up with a female penguin.
Anyway, same species but different birds, these penguin chicks forge their way to a new home on Penguin Island in the annual March of the Penguins event. Yeah, they didn't have quite as dramatic a tale as the Emperor penguins featured in the movie of the same name, but these birds surely had to endure more (human) crowds as they traveled down some pavement to the new watery habitat.
See more pictures from the world's largest Magellanic penguin colony in captivity when you read more
Sad news to come out of San Francisco: Harry and Pepper have officially broken up . . . and Harry's moved on. The SF Zoo's famous same-sex penguin couple hit a rough patch when the single Linda befriended Harry after her long-time (male) companion, Fig, passed away.
This caused a fight between the original couple and the threesome was then separated. It's all water under the bridge as Pepper just returned to the penguin exhibit from a bachelor pad at the Avian Conservation Center and they were reintroduced in their enclosure on Friday.
Harry and Linda successfully nested this year but Harry and Pepper famously hatched an egg (from a different mama) together in 2008 acting as "the best parents that year." I guess he'll just be Uncle Pepper now?
This zoo has the largest Magellanic penguins colony in captivity in the world (nearly 60 birds!) — if you're local and want to check out these two, their left wing band numbers are 201 (Harry) and 207 (Pepper). See the classic video describing the birds and chicks, read more
