(CHICAGO) The public is getting its first peek at the penguins returning to Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo.
The zoo is holding a grand opening for the new Robert and Mayari Pritzker Penguin Cove on Thursday. The $7 million exhibit is home to 12 African penguins.
These penguins are native to South Africa and endangered. The zoo says African penguin populations have been decimated by human impacts, including unsustainable fishing, egg-collecting and oil spills.
The new space features a South African landscape, a pool and nesting areas camouflaged within exhibit rockwork.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
