A NEW colony of penguin ’toddlers ‘ have already proved a hit with their fellow feathered friends and visitors at Bournemouth Oceanarium.

Six juvenile Humboldt penguins, captive born and bred at Folly Farm in Wales in April, have taken residency alongside the current waddle of Humboldt penguins.

A public competition to name two of the new penguins saw the penguin keepers pick Rolo and Biscuit as the winners and will now join their siblings Millie, Monty, Bilbo and Twigle.

Penguin Beach Encounter, which opened last summer, was specifically designed to replicate the birds’ natural habitat featuring 12 nest boxes set within the rockwork, built purposely with a future breeding programme in mind.

Humboldt penguins are listed on the IUCN Red List species status as 'vulnerable' and are currently protected due to a decline in population.

The current colony of Humboldt penguins at the Oceanarium were also captive bred in zoos and aquariums as part of an on-going breeding programme.

Dani Farah, head penguin keeper, said: “Humboldt penguins are one of the world’s most threatened species of penguin.

"To help sustain their populations, zoos and aquariums participate in an international captive breeding programme which we are hoping to be a part.

"Alongside this, we want to help educate our visitors about the issues Humboldts are facing in the wild such as global warming, over fishing and more unusually, habitat destruction, due to their nests being harvested for their droppings which are used as fertiliser.

“We already have some very strong personalities in the current group and I cannot wait to discover our newest additions’ quirky traits and see who they pair up with.”

Humboldt penguins are generally monogamous animals, meaning they pair and mate for life when they reach maturity from around two or three-years-old.