A wildlife park in Gloucestershire has celebrated the hatching of a king penguin chick, the first successfully hatched in the UK since 2014. Staff at Birdland Park and Gardens in Bourton-on-the-Water hand-reared the chick after moving its egg to an incubator, and say it has already overcome several obstacles, including the recent summer heatwave, to survive. Breeding king penguins is notoriously difficult, as the birds lay only a single egg at a time with breeding cycles sometimes years apart, making the arrival a significant milestone for the park.

The chick weighed 188g (6.6oz) at hatching and could grow to as much as 18kg (39lbs) as an adult. It belongs to parents French and Frank, and keepers intervened after Frank incorrectly positioned the smaller-than-average 298g (10oz) egg, prompting its move to an incubator; French was a first-time breeder and Frank is described as elderly for the species. Following a two-month incubation period, it may be a further 16 months before the chick fledges, and it will remain behind the scenes during its early weeks before visitors can see it.