Meet “Scrappy”: Adventure Aquarium’s Newest African Penguin Chick

Adventure Aquarium’s newest little star has a name, and it’s perfect for a radio shout-out: Scrappy the African penguin chick. After two weeks of public, in-person voting from January 5 through January 19, fans helped select the winning name through donations, with every dollar benefiting AZA SAFE African Penguins and The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB).

Scrappy is the 53rd African penguin chick to be born at Adventure Aquarium, and he already had some stiff “competition” before the name was even official. The Birds & Mammals team narrowed the options down to four fun, fan-friendly names—Flounder, Toothless, Zero, and Scrappy—following a playful “sidekicks and dragons” theme inspired by his mom, Mushu. In the end, Scrappy came out on top, a fitting name for a little penguin with a big future.

Chick 53, now officially Scrappy, hatched on November 21 to parents Mushu (#44) and Hubert (#47), marking the couple’s second chick. His arrival is more than just adorable—it is a meaningful moment for a species in serious trouble. African penguins were reclassified as critically endangered in October 2024 due to habitat loss and environmental changes, and experts warn they could be functionally extinct by 2035 without strong conservation action. That makes every successful hatch, including Scrappy’s, a big win for the species and for the conservation partners supported by the naming donations.

Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey, is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and participates in the AZA Species Survival Plan®, helping ensure healthy, genetically diverse populations of animals in human care. Scrappy is on track to join the colony this spring, once he develops his waterproof feathers and the weather cooperates.

Want to follow his journey? Listeners and families can keep up with Scrappy’s milestones, behind-the-scenes updates, and colony debut by following Adventure Aquarium on social media—and, of course, by planning a visit to see this future fan favorite in person.