Those Cheating Penguins Are At It Again, So Lincoln Park Zoo Renews Its Popular ‘All My Penguins’ Drama

DOWNTOWN — There’s drama, drama, drama in the Lincoln Park Zoo’s African penguin exhibit.

So, fittingly, there’s a new season of “All My Penguins,” the zoo’s tongue-in-cheek recap of the happenings within its African penguin colony.

The zoo’s employees use the blog to chronicle love triangles among the penguins while educating readers about the birds. The first episode went up last week.

“‘All My Penguins’ is back not only by popular demand, but also so that the public can connect with the endangered African penguin species and be inspired to help conserve them in the wild,” said Sunny Nelson, the zoo’s Hope B. McCormick curator of birds.

So what’s new this season? There’s a chick, named Oliver, among the cast, and his mom has been fighting with the other penguins to keep them away from her baby. Heartbreaker Madiba can’t pick between boys Dudley and Mandela. And grumpy Maynard has a soft spot for Aiden — but she’s also seeing Pilchard.

It’s the kind of drama that would make for great episodes on any soap opera, let alone one about adorable penguins.

Check out a video of Oliver, the colony’s new chick:

“With the first African penguin chick successfully hatched and reared in the colony since it was established in October 2016, colony dynamics shifted and some penguins’ personalities changed, as well,” Nelson said. “There were more stories to tell and more people invested in the happenings of the cozy colony.”

But the drama isn’t just for entertainment. Readers who come for the laughs this season will also read about seafood sustainability related to penguins and the milestones chicks like Oliver hit as they grow, among other topics, Nelson said.

“All My Penguins” started last July. There had been interest in the colony, which came to the zoo in October 2016, and Nelson sent out a “quippy” updates on the birds. The update was a hit, and it led to the zoo starting the blog.

The blog frequently features photos and updates on the penguins, with the first episode noting that bachelor Eric is taking baby Oliver under his wing while mated pair Maria and Liam have been focused more on each other than drama with the other penguins. The updates are all based on what actually happens in the exhibit.

Updates to “All My Penguins” will be available on the Lincoln Park Zoo website.

Here’s a guide to the penguins behind the series: