The 2022 breeding season for penguins at Curraghs Wildlife Park has officially begun.

On Sunday, the park posted on Facebook that two eggs had been laid, in two different nest boxes.

Penguin eggs take 40-42 days before they hatch, so the first new chick will not be seen until the end of April at the earliest.

Once they hatch, the chicks will be reared by their parents in special nesting boxes before they are large enough to venture out into the main enclosure and meet visitors.

A spokesperson for the wildlife park said: ‘Couples pair up every year with the same partner at the same nest site.

‘Parenting is equal 50/50 share of incubation and chick rearing.’

The penguins at Curraghs are Humboldt Penguins, and are classed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

They are part of an internationally recognised breeding program run by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria.

They are a South American penguin, and in the wild they inhabit warm areas – often distributed along the coasts of Chile and Peru, and they live mainly in the Pinguino de Humbold National Reserve in the North of Chile.

They are threatened by entanglement in fishing nets, illegal trade – either for consumption or as pets – the loss of their habitat, and commercial fishing affecting their food availability.

They are sexually mature by three years old, and females can lay up to two eggs.

Growth is very rapid as the chicks need to get to adult size in only 10 to 12 weeks, when they leave the nest.

The park has said it will keep followers of its social media pages updated on how the breeding season goes.

In 2020, the park had its best breeding season to date - producing 10 chicks for the breeding program.

It also donated from its Conservation fund to Sphenisco charity which is setting up a Marine Protection Area in Chile, and works to educate children and fisherman in the Humboldt’s region of Chile and Peru.

Last year, 14 of the rare penguins were moved from the park in Ballaugh to a new home in Northern Ireland.

The waddle of penguins included the 10 chicks hatched in 2020, and four that hatched the previous year, as part of an internationally-recognised breeding programme.

They moved into a new salt water pool and continue to be part of the European Endangered Species breeding programme.

l The Wildlife Park is now fully reopen for its summer season.

It is now open every day between 9.30am and 5pm, and the cafe will be open every day right through to the end of October.

The park’s trains will start running on Sundays and bank holidays from April 3.