Get Ready To Meet The Adorable Penguin Chicks At John Ball Zoo

There must be something in the water at the John Ball Zoo, because just last week we shared the news of new baby Lynx kits. Now, it's time to get those balloons, party hats and confetti out becuase they're welcoming more new babies to their family.

According to a release, the John Ball Zoo is thrilled to announce the addition of three new Magellanic penguin chicks to their family. All of the penguin chicks were born in the last three weeks to two pairs of parents: one chick to Rio (mom, 19 years old) and Quffy (dad, 24 years old) and two chicks were born to Qberta (mom, 16 years old) and Hogan (dad, 14 years old).

While these chicks may be new to the planet, they're far from the first that the zoo has raised. In fact, the John Ball Zoo has raised 46 penguins from birth to adulthood since 2000. In fact, all four of the new penguin parents were hatched at the Zoo. So, they're just keeping the family going right in front of our eyes.

Read More: New Lynx Kittens Arrive At John Ball Zoo In Grand Rapids

If you head to the John Ball Zoo, the babies will be hanging out in the penguin exhibit, but you won't see them. Our friends at the zoo have shared that currently, the animal care team is being as hands-off and letting the parents care for their babies as they would out in the wild.

So yes they're hanging out there, but none of the chicks are currently visible to guests because they are being covered and protected by their parents. The Zoo says they plan to closely monitor the chicks to make sure they are being fed, are healthy and are growing.

Once the chicks reach an age when they start venturing away from the nest, zookeepers will move them to an off-habitat area to get them used to taking food from people. When they have waterproof swim feathers and zookeepers are confident they can get in and out of the pool independently, they will be moved back into the habitat. This is the standard practice in zoos across america.

So a big congrats to John Ball Zoo's newest parents, we're so excited to watch your little ones waddle and grow.