The California Academy of Sciences has revealed the name of its new penguin chick, a girl named Pogo.
San Francisco’s beloved natural history museum in Golden Gate Park asked people to vote on their favorite name for the latest addition to its African penguin colony — and the first chick to hatch at the Academy since 2018 — in time for Penguin Awareness Day, Friday, Jan. 20.
Born in early November, Pogo is the first biological baby for 7-year-old male penguin Bernie and 4-year-old female Stanlee, who was the last penguin to hatch at the Academy.
More than 10,000 votes were cast to choose the name, which was suggested after the Academy put out a call on social media for submissions, with Pogo coming out ahead of the other three finalists — Hope, Penny and Greta — by a wide margin.
Here is the breakdown of votes:
Pogo: 3,968 votes
Penny: 3,026 votes
Greta: 2,433 votes
Hope: 1,289 votes
“Pogo was originally submitted by an Instagram user named Cara, ‘because they do little hops,’ ” Jeanette Peach, associate communications director for the Academy, told The Chronicle.
The penguin chick was among four the Academy was hoping to introduce to its colony of African penguins this month as part of its “species-survival plan.” Pogo’s biological sister died on Dec. 5. Of two other eggs that were incubated last month, only one hatched. The surviving chick is named Oswald Cobblepot after the Penguin, the villain in the 1992 film “Batman Returns,” by a donor who had previously secured the naming rights.
“African penguins have been classified as an endangered species since 2010, and with only about 10,000 breeding pairs left in the wild they face a very real risk of extinction in their natural environment,” Brenda Melton, director of animal care and welfare at the Academy’s Steinhart Aquarium, said in a statement.
The babies are currently kept behind the scenes in what the aquarium biologists call “fish school,” where they are learning important life skills like how to swim and eat, but will join their 13 fellow penguins in the African penguin colony in March where fans can track their progress on the live penguin cam.
California Academy of Sciences: 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Dynamic ticket pricing based on reservation time. 55 Music Concourse Drive, S.F. 415-379-8000. www.calacademy.org