King penguin chick hatches at the Calgary Zoo

There's a new king penguin in the Calgary Zoo colony.

After nearly two months of incubating, an egg laid June 16 by king penguin Grace hatched on Aug. 6.

Zoo officials have managed to do visual checks of the new chick, who is sticking close to mom, and said it appears healthy and is growing.

Grace was seen mating with one of the colony's males, but she remains unattached, which officials said is highly unusual as penguins normally form pairs in the wild and take turns incubating the egg.

Grace continues to stand guard over her newly hatched chick on the beach at Penguin Plunge, something officials said she wouldn't be able to do in the wild. Instead, as a solo parent, Grace would be forced to choose between staying to protect her chick and keep it warm, or going to seek food.

Zookeepers are hand-feeding fish to Grace as newly hatched chicks rely on their parents for food and protection for several months.

King penguins are at the Calgary Zoo as part of a Species Survival Plan and this is the second to hatch here, following Nero last year.

• MORE CALGARY NEWS|Outdoor Report: Hiking west from Edworthy Park
• MORE CALGARY NEWS|Monahan signs 7-year extension with Flames; Gaudreau still unsigned