A rare penguin born at a Dorset aquarium has been given a fluffy toy friend to keep him company while he waits for his sibling to arrive.
Henry the Fairy penguin chick hatched from one of two eggs mum Tyrion laid at the start of the year at the SeaLife centre in Weymouth, Dorset.
In the wild penguins only incubate one egg and discard the others but luckily for Henry staff were able to rescue his and place it in their dedicated hatchery.
And because the facility is kept at a constant temperature Henry hatched well ahead of his brother or sister.
Henry has been given a toy penguin which is about the same size as him as a companion until the second egg hatches.
Keepers at SeaLife are hand–rearing the tiny chick, who is about the size of a coffee mug, and he is having four feeds a day.
Seb Webster, the manager at the SeaLife centre, said: ‘Henry is almost three weeks old and is doing really well and putting on weight.
‘His mother laid two eggs. In the wild the parents would traditionally incubate and look after one egg and ignore the other. Henry came from the one that was removed by us and incubated in our hatchery.
Henry the Fairy penguin with his fluffy toy friend. The chick hatched from one of two eggs mum Tyrion laid at the start of the year at the SeaLife centre in Weymouth, Dorset
While Henry waits for his sibling to hatch he is being kept company by a toy penguin so he can ‘get used to having a companion and a comfort blanket’
‘Because the hatchery is kept at a constant temperature he hatched first.
‘We have given him a toy penguin so he can get used to having a companion and a comfort blanket while he awaits his sibling but he will be the older brother when that does happen.’
The SeaLife centre in Weymouth is the only place in Europe that has a colony of Fairy penguins which are native to southern Australia and New Zealand,
In 2018 an aquarium in Australia closed down SeaLife took in 25 of their pocket–sized flightless birds and began a breeding programme.
Henry is now the 42nd Fairy penguin in Weymouth and will be on display for the public to see in the near future.
Like the rest of them, Henry will eventually grow to around 13ins tall.
Henry is not the only baby animal to enjoy the company of soft toy this week.
Punch, a six-month-old macaque at Ichikawa City Zoo in Japan, has become an unlikely internet sensation after video clips showed him clinging tightly to a stuffed orangutan for comfort.
Keepers at SeaLife are hand–rearing Henry, who is about the size of a coffee mug, and he is having four feeds a day
Henry is now the 42nd Fairy penguin in Weymouth and will be on display for the public to see in the near future
Punch, a six-month-old macaque at Ichikawa City Zoo, has become an unlikely internet sensation after clips showed him clinging tightly to a stuffed orangutan for comfort
The tiny primate was born in July 2025 but was rejected by his mother shortly after birth, according to reports.
Keepers stepped in and hand-raised him, feeding and caring for him while closely monitoring his development.
Because infant monkeys instinctively cling to their mothers from birth, staff offered Punch blankets and soft toys to ease his anxiety.
He quickly chose the plush orangutan and has barely let go since.
Footage shared widely on X shows the youngster hugging the toy as he sleeps, wrapping his arms around it and burying his face into the fabric.
In other clips, he can be seen clutching it protectively while cautiously approaching other young macaques.