The emperor penguin chick, born on September 30, 2015, celebrated its half-birthday today (March 30, 2016), and we threw a party for it!
We gave it a special ice cake as a gift! Even the adult penguins were watching nearby.

Such a precious sight, only seen during the 'subadult' stage, between a chick and an adult.
After the park opened, many guests gathered at the marine animal house and cheered, 'Happy Half Birthday!' to celebrate.

They ate their meals with lots of energy and had their weight measured. Surrounded by many penguins, they're growing up fast!

At the event, our animal educators (staff) gave a talk about the penguins' growth from birth until now. Plus, a penguin robot made by our park staff made an appearance! This robot, designed to look like a 40-day-old chick, showed off super realistic movements like flapping its wings and shaking its head. We used the robot to show how we feed the chicks and explained all the support and clever ways we help raise them.

When it was born, the emperor penguin chick was tiny, only about 200g, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. But by the weight measurement on the day of the event, it had grown to about 21kg! During pool training, which started in early February, it was scared of the water at first, but now it jumps right in and spends more time swimming. We'd love for you to keep watching our little emperor penguin grow!