Chinstrap Penguin Chick
Some of the penguins at Central Park Zoo will appear similar to this chick from Point Wild, Elephant Island commons.wikimedia.org

Eight baby penguins have become a huge hit at the Central Park Zoo. Dubbed the Real Chicks of Central Park, the penguins have become the stars of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Central Park Zoo blog.

The blog will allow penguin fans to closely follow the lives of the eight baby penguins being raised in Central Park Zoo. Nora Beirne, the wild animal keeper tasked with raising the penguins, expressed her excitement about her job on the blog.

My friends are jealous. They say, 'Ohhhh, you get to raise baby penguins?' Then I explain what we do, and how messy it gets, and they understand it's hard work. Don't get me wrong-it's a very rewarding job, but also tiring, said Beirne.

The four Gentoo penguins and the four chinstrap penguins were born this summer. They will be housed in the zoo's Penguins House Exhibit as the blog continually updates the lives of the chicks.

We wanted to show people what goes into hand rearing the penguin chicks from day one and share the growth process, said Jeff Sailer, Director of City Zoos, in a press release. These new additions to the penguin colony are a success in animal husbandry and reflect the bird expertise we have at the Central Park Zoo.

The blog will supply fans with pictures, videos, and interviews about what it takes to raise eight penguins in the big city. On the official website, Central Park Zoo has been heavily promoting their newborn penguins. They are offering framed pictures of one the chicks with a $10 donation that will go towards the care of the birds.

Central Park Zoo decided to create this blog because it is a creative way to introduce the penguin chicks to the public while showing visitors the husbandry that went into the hand rearing of the chicks, said Sailer, in an email to IBTimes. We have three species of penguin in our Penguin House, king, gentoo and chinstrap, and they are a popular exhibit at the zoo. People really enjoy watching these birds.

About 12 of the 17 penguin species are expereincing populatinon declines and some are even facing extinction for a variety of reasons including changing climate and overfisihing. The Wild Life Conservation Society says they will remain committed to the preservation of penguins across the globe.