Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/lost-baby-penguin/

Gratifying curiosity is natural for toddlers — both humans and animals. It’s normal for children to question everything they see in their surroundings. Sometimes they will focus on one object until they lose interest in it. Kids would really go anywhere to find answers. Every day is a mini adventure, especially when it’s their first time on Earth. The earlier years are the best time to hone their social, physical, emotional, and cognitive skills. It’s the safest way to satisfy their curiosity about various objects that catch their attention. For this reason, guardians always keep an eye on the kids. If not, the toddler might run somewhere, and they’d end up getting lost.

Parents create a system to avoid frequent separation from their kids, mainly in public places. Animals do that as well, which also helps in securing the baby’s survival. The system is vital, especially when the parents need to leave in order to find food. A great example of that is a King penguin’s parent and child routine during Spring. BBC Earth has shared a glimpse of the life of half a million penguins in St. Andrews Bay in South Georgia. They showed how adult penguins would leave their chicks in a safe spot while they gather food. For days, baby penguins from different families gather in one place. According to the system, the chick must stay in their designated spot so their parents can easily return to them. The baby penguin is expected to be on its best behavior.

Funnily enough, happy feet are in the waddle of penguin chicks. One baby penguin wanted to have fun and roamed around the place. It followed other birds as if it was trying to talk to them. The chick also got distracted by a fluffy object which it focused on for a long time. Its beak held the object and tried to keep it away from other inquisitive baby penguins. However, one of the little chicks took the object from the adventurous penguin. It flew with the wind, but the chick wanted its fluffy new toy. For this reason, the baby penguin followed it around and strayed away from his spot.

Little did the parents know, upon their return the baby won’t be where they left it. The food was ready, but there was no chirping chick to be found. While they were puzzled, the baby penguin was still on its adventure. It walked around with other chicks and even encountered an elephant seal. The young animal’s curiosity is endless — not realizing that the adventure is already far from the meeting place. In a crowd of king penguins, finding the baby is going to be challenging. The parent had nothing left to do, but make a call that the chick will recognize. However, the parent and child should be 15 meters away from each other. The adult penguin had to make a call in different spots — like it was finding a signal.

The baby penguin did not realize it was already far until the call. It immediately responded to its parent — fast waddling to where it could find them. Thankfully, the playful and inquisitive animal found its parent without getting scolded. The first thing the parent did was to share food with the young one. It knew that it might be hungry from roaming around and following its curiosity toward its surroundings. Watch the adventure of the baby king penguin in the video below. Share the story with someone who loves penguins — give them another reason to adore the precious birds.

[embedded content]
Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog