A trio of adorable Humboldt penguin chicks hatched at a California zoo, and one carries on the legacy of its Teva sandal-wearing grandfather, officials said.

All three chicks hatched to new parents at the Santa Barbara Zoo at the end of March and beginning of April — and are the first chicks born at the zoo since 2018, officials said in a May 10 news release.

That’s significant because the species of penguin is considered vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, officials said.

“This exciting development brings a burst of joy and cuteness as they acclimate to their temporary home behind the scenes at the Zoo,” officials said.

The zoo is calling them Chick #1, #2 and #3 until they are named.

The first chick hatched March 23 “to proud parents Pepper and Pinga,” officials said. Seven-year-old Pepper is a fourth-generation penguin in the colony and continues “the legacy of his beloved father, Lucky,” who was famous for wearing a Teva sandal over his injured foot. Lucky died in 2020, the Santa Barbara Independent reported.

The chick is Pepper and Pinga’s first, and zookeepers helped care for the chick until its parents started feeding it, officials said.

The second and third chicks hatched March 31 and April 2, respectively, and they’re siblings from first time parents Plum and Jane, officials said. Plum, 27, comes from SeaWorld San Diego and has belonged to the Santa Barbara Zoo’s colony since 2006.

Jane, 11, is from the Oregon Zoo. Plum and Jane raised Chick #2 while Chick #3 is being fostered by new parents El Rey and Puff from Woodland Park Zoo and Brookfield Zoo, respectively.

It’s normal for Humboldt penguins to lay two eggs, but often in the wild the second chick doesn’t survive, officials said.

“Fortunately, the Zoo has the ability to foster the second egg to another pair so the birds have a chance to have parenting experience,” officials said. “All parents feeding chicks are offered additional opportunities to eat throughout the day.”

Now that all three chicks are over 30 days old and their waterproof feathers are about to grow in, they’re in “fish school” together, officials said. They’ll learn to swim and will be “weaned from regurgitated fish to freshly thawed fish” provided by zookeepers.

Over the next few weeks, adult penguins from the rest of the colony will meet the new colony members, and the chicks will also visit the penguin habitat, officials said. Then the chicks will be ready to live with the colony and make their zoo debut in the habitat.

Guests should be able to tell the silver and white chicks apart from the fully-grown penguins that have a black “stripe” across their chests, officials said.

“These penguin chicks play an important role in the sustainability of their species in human care,” officials said.

The chicks are part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Humboldt Penguin Species Survival Plan, officials said. The species is vulnerable to extinction, and “primary threats in their native range include entanglement in fishing nets; illegal capture for food, bait, and the pet trade; and historic over-harvesting of guano (needed by the birds for nesting) for fertilizer.”

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