The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Central Park Zoo is letting visitors see how eight penguin chicks have been hand-raised on a new blog called The Real Chicks of Central Park.

The blog includes photos (chick pics), videos (chick flicks), and keeper interviews (chick lit) and updated continually for three weeks. Visitors can meet the chicks and their keepers, watch them grow, and see the painstaking care that goes into raising them. 

“We wanted to show people what goes into hand rearing the penguin chicks from day one and share the growth process,” said Jeff Sailer, Director of City Zoos. “These new additions to the penguin colony are a success in animal husbandry and reflect the bird expertise we have at the Central Park Zoo.” 

With a $10 donation to the care of the penguin chicks a “chick magnet” will be sent to the recipient of your choice just in time for the holidays. The magnet features a frame with a picture of one of “the real chicks,” and a space where you can put a picture of your very own chick magnet. Proceeds support the care of theses beautiful penguins and other wildlife residents of WCS’s Central Park Zoo.

The chicks were born over the summer and can now be seen on exhibit in the Penguin House. In addition to the Central Park Zoo, WCS’s Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium have penguins on exhibit. 

The Wildlife Conservation Society works around the globe to save wildlife and wild places. Changing climate, overfishing, and habitat loss are some of the factors affecting penguin populations. Of the world's 17 penguin species, 12 are experiencing serious population declines with some facing extinction within the 21st century. WCS is committed to ensuring a future for penguins where they live, including Punta Tombo on the coast of Argentina, home to the largest colony of Magellanic penguins in the world.