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Baby penguins hatched at San Diego Zoo
In this Tuesday, May 7, 2019, photo a San Diego Zoo's animal care staff member cares for the first chicks born at the San Diego Zoo African Penguin colony in San Diego, Calif. The fluffy pair of 2-month-olds, named Doug and Barbara, in honor of Douglas G. Myers, president/CEO of San Diego Zoo Global, and his wife Barbara Myers, are the first chicks hatched at the Zoo from eggs laid by the colony's resident penguin couples. (Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Global via AP)
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In this Tuesday, May 7, 2019, photo a San Diego Zoo's animal care staff member cares for the first chicks born at the San Diego Zoo African Penguin colony in San Diego, Calif. The fluffy pair of 2-month-olds, named Doug and Barbara, in honor of Douglas G. Myers, president/CEO of San Diego Zoo Global, and his wife Barbara Myers, are the first chicks hatched at the Zoo from eggs laid by the colony's resident penguin couples. (Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Global via AP)
The San Diego Zoo has two new arrivals: a pair of endangered African penguin chicks.
The zoo announced Wednesday that the fluffy chicks, named Doug and Barbara, hatched two months ago.
The eggs came from two breeding couples. The zoo says it's the first time eggs laid by its adult penguins have hatched there.
Staff has been working with the chicks to get them used to humans before they are introduced into the penguin colony in the next few weeks.
African penguins are an endangered species. Their numbers have dropped by more than 60% in the past three decades and only 23,000 breeding pairs are known to exist.
The decline is blamed on several factors, including disease, habitat destruction and lack of food from overfishing, climate change and pollution.
In this Tuesday, May 7, 2019, photo, San Diego Zoo's animal care staff weights one of the first chicks born at the San Diego Zoo African Penguin colony in San Diego, Calif. A fluffy pair of 2-month-olds, named Doug and Barbara, in honor of Douglas G. Myers, president/CEO of San Diego Zoo Global, and his wife Barbara Myers, are the first chicks hatched at the Zoo from eggs laid by the colony's resident penguin couples. (Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Global via AP)
× close
In this Tuesday, May 7, 2019, photo, San Diego Zoo's animal care staff weights one of the first chicks born at the San Diego Zoo African Penguin colony in San Diego, Calif. A fluffy pair of 2-month-olds, named Doug and Barbara, in honor of Douglas G. Myers, president/CEO of San Diego Zoo Global, and his wife Barbara Myers, are the first chicks hatched at the Zoo from eggs laid by the colony's resident penguin couples. (Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Global via AP)
In this Tuesday, May 7, 2019, photo, a San Diego Zoo's animal care staff member weights one of the first chicks born at the San Diego Zoo African Penguin colony in San Diego, Calif. The fluffy pair of 2-month-olds, named Doug and Barbara, in honor of Douglas G. Myers, president/CEO of San Diego Zoo Global, and his wife Barbara Myers, are the first chicks hatched at the Zoo from eggs laid by the colony's resident penguin couples. (Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Global via AP)
× close
In this Tuesday, May 7, 2019, photo, a San Diego Zoo's animal care staff member weights one of the first chicks born at the San Diego Zoo African Penguin colony in San Diego, Calif. The fluffy pair of 2-month-olds, named Doug and Barbara, in honor of Douglas G. Myers, president/CEO of San Diego Zoo Global, and his wife Barbara Myers, are the first chicks hatched at the Zoo from eggs laid by the colony's resident penguin couples. (Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Global via AP)
This Tuesday, May 7, 2019, photo shows the first chicks born at the San Diego Zoo African Penguin colony in San Diego, Calif. The fluffy pair of 2-month-olds, named Doug and Barbara, in honor of Douglas G. Myers, president/CEO of San Diego Zoo Global, and his wife Barbara Myers, are the first chicks hatched at the Zoo from eggs laid by the colony's resident penguin couples. (Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Global via AP)
× close
This Tuesday, May 7, 2019, photo shows the first chicks born at the San Diego Zoo African Penguin colony in San Diego, Calif. The fluffy pair of 2-month-olds, named Doug and Barbara, in honor of Douglas G. Myers, president/CEO of San Diego Zoo Global, and his wife Barbara Myers, are the first chicks hatched at the Zoo from eggs laid by the colony's resident penguin couples. (Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Global via AP)