SHEDD AQUARIUM — There's a new baby penguin at Shedd Aquarium.
The Downtown museum said Thursday that a rockhopper penguin chick hatched earlier this month after this spring's successful mating season. The chick, to be named later, is known now simply as chick No. 23.
WATCH: Shedd's new baby penguin
The chick weighed 57 grams at birth June 9 and was recently weighed at 200 grams, the Shedd said. It is the offspring of two rockhopper penguins at the aquarium named Edward and Annie. The Shedd said it would not be able to determine the chick's gender until it turned one year of age.
The aquarium hosts two penguin species: rockhoppers and Magellanics, with rockhoppers deemed the smaller and "more eccentric" of the two breeds, Shedd said. The chick can be seen now in its parents' nest at the aquarium's "Polar Play Zone" exhibit.
Rockhopper penguins are listed as a “vulnerable” species to endangerment by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The Shedd has been active since 1991 to rescue penguins abroad while growing its collection here.
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