Humboldt penguin chicks take to the water for the first time at London Zoo

No armbands were necessary in London Zoo’s nursery penguin pool this week, as 11 young Humboldt penguin chicks took to the water for their first swimming lesson.

The chicks hatched on the zoo’s iconic Penguin Beach during April and May and, after spending their first weeks tucked away in their cosy nest boxes, zookeepers stepped in this week to help the birds find their flippers in the training pool.

Once strong enough, the 11 chicks will move to the conservation zoo’s main penguin pool, where they’ll join the colony of 76 Humboldt penguins.

An iconic seabird, Humboldt penguins are classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with their numbers in the wild falling.