A couple of west Fife babies are among a new brood proving that Edinburgh Zoo’s breeding success with animals might have rubbed off on its staff.
New animal births were put to one side as the zoo celebrated a bumper few years for births for members of staff instead.
Eighteen children have been born since 2007 to parents who work at the zoo, including Lochgelly’s Brandon Barbour, who is 13 months, and nine-month-old Lewis Stephenson of Dunfermline.
Now as part of the zoo’s campaign to recruit more animal adopters the children, who are all three years and under, have been given an extra special award a gentoo penguin chick named after each of them.
The children came face to face with their feathered friends and met their penguin counterparts.
At the same time, they each officially accepted their honorary adoption of a gentoo with the unveiling of a plaque on the enclosure and presentation of an adoption certificate.
Naming newborns is normally an honour given to the keeper who discovers the offspring, but with 43 gentoo chicks hatched this year, head keeper Roslin Talbot agreed to this special treat.
The penguin chicks, ranging from two days to three months old, were named after 11 boys Alexander, Ben, Lucas, Leon, Elliott, Aiden, Lewis, Brandon, Gregor, Zack and Luca and seven girls Izzy, Eva, Katie, Millie, Olivia, Orla and Amber.