New Orleans Aquarium Names New Endangered Penguin Chick After NBA Player Zion Williamson

Nicholas Rice
·3 min read

When it came time to pick a name for the newest member of their facility, the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans knew exactly what name to choose.

The aquarium announced Tuesday that its new penguin chick has been named Zion, after New Orleans Pelicans player, Zion Williamson.

The basketball star recently made headlines earlier this month after he announced that he would cover the salaries of the workers at Smoothie King Center, the Pelicans’ home arena, for 30 days following the suspension of the NBA season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Zion the penguin is an endangered African penguin and was born on Feb. 17, while the Pelicans were off for the All-Star break.

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Egg-citing news! An absolutely adorable African penguin chick named Zion hatched at Audubon Aquarium of the Americas on February 17, 2020, after a 39-day incubation period. 🐧 We chose the name Zion in honor of @pelicansnba rookie @ZionWilliamson. In this time of uncertainty, Zion embraced the New Orleans community with a truly remarkable act of generosity after NBA season halted. Zion is the offspring of penguin pair Hubig (mother) and Ocio (father). After spending approximately 11 days being raised with its parents, as sometimes happens, it needed to be removed and taken under human care. This is a very time-consuming process for animal care staff and is a testament to their dedication, especially right now since we are closed, and only essential staff are on site taking such great care of the animals. The African penguins at the Aquarium serve as ambassadors, teaching guests about the plight of this species in the wild due to human-wildlife conflict. We are proud to be able to contribute to the African Penguin @zoos_aquariums Species Survival Plan, and we hope to continue our breeding success year after year. #SavingSpecies #ClosedButStillCaring

A post shared by Audubon Nature Institute (@auduboninstitute) on Mar 24, 2020 at 9:31am PDT

In an Instagram post shared to the institute’s official account, they shared the “egg-citing news” about Zion’s hatching and gave more insight into the naming process.

“We chose the name Zion in honor of @pelicansnba rookie @ZionWilliamson,” they shared. “In this time of uncertainty, Zion embraced the New Orleans community with a truly remarkable act of generosity after NBA season halted.”

They added how Zion is the offspring of penguin pair Hubig and Ocio and that after “spending approximately 11 days being raised with its parents,” Zion then “needed to be removed and taken under human care.”

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Audubon Nature Institute President and CEO Ron Forman addressed the current health pandemic and shared in a statement, “New Orleans is a resilient city, and we have had to overcome adversity before — together, we will make it through this.”

He added, “Knowing we have such dedicated staff during such a difficult time working hard to take care of this new chick, makes bringing you this good news even more rewarding.”

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Fans can check on Zion’s progress by visiting Audubon Aquarium of the Americas’ social media pages for photos and videos.

Supporters can also help this endangered bird species by Adopting an Audubon African Penguin. These figurative animal adoptions help to care for the more than 15,000 animals in Audubon’s care.

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