EDUCATION

California Academy of Sciences announces hatching of 2 African penguin chicks

Associated Press
Published | Updated

In this Nov. 17, 2014 photo, California Academy of Sciences veterinarian Freeland Dunker, right, and biologist Crystal Crimbchin examine one of two African penguin chicks at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. The two penguin chicks recently hatched as part of the aquarium’s Species Survival Plan program. The Academy plans to hold a naming contest for the chicks once they are on public exhibit in late January. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) (The Associated Press)

In this Nov. 17, 2014 photo, California Academy of Sciences veterinarian Freeland Dunker, right, and biologist Crystal Crimbchin examine one of two African penguin chicks at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. The two penguin chicks recently hatched as part of the aquarium’s Species Survival Plan program. The Academy plans to hold a naming contest for the chicks once they are on public exhibit in late January. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) (The Associated Press)

In this Nov. 17, 2014 photo, California Academy of Sciences veterinarian Freeland Dunker examines one of two African penguin chicks at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. The two penguin chicks recently hatched as part of the aquarium’s Species Survival Plan program. The Academy plans to hold a naming contest for the chicks once they are on public exhibit in late January. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) (The Associated Press)

Two African penguin chicks have recently hatched at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

The academy announced Tuesday the chicks hatched just days apart on November 1 and November 4 and are nesting with their parents.

The gray, fluffy chicks the size of a tea cup will go through "fish school" where they will learn to become proficient swimmers and get comfortable with eating hand-fed fish. Once they are ready they will join the penguin colony on exhibit.

The academy's new chicks are the second and third to be hatched as part of its Species Survival Plan program.

African penguins were classified as an endangered species in 2010 and are at very high risk of extinction in the wild.