SIX baby penguins named after footballers are already 'wowing' with their performance after taking their first tentative steps out of their burrows.

The Welsh Mountain Zoo, in Colwyn Bay, kicked off the start of the Russian World Cup by naming their tiny Humboldt penguin chicks after some of the sport's biggest names: Messi, Ronaldo, Salah, Suarez, Neymar and Bale.

Now eight weeks old, the fluffy birds are cautiously exploring their new home for the first time.

Jamie Toffrey, Marketing Officer at the Welsh Mountain Zoo said: “We love to welcome new babies here at the Zoo and we have a strong history in the successful breeding of the endangered Humboldt penguin.

“They are incredibly cute and getting braver by the day - we felt the timing was perfect to name them after some of the world’s most famous footballing stars.

"We've house penguins here for many years and have experienced keepers here for support."

There are currently 26 penguins at the zoo, plus the six chicks.

"Our fantastic group is growing steadily,” added Jamie.

Michelle Pywell, head keeper, added: "It is heart-warming that we have continued our success with breeding Humboldt penguins.

"This is a bird that is only found around the coastline of Chile and Peru in South America and numbers have been declining in the wild. There are only 7,000-10,000 estimated to be left and are now endangered.

“Luckily our breeding pairs are now very experienced and we do not need to intervene by hand rearing.

"We do not interfere. All we do is offer food to the parent in the burrow who is incubating the eggs three times a day and when the chick hatches we take a “hatch weight” which is around 65-80 grams. We will weigh the chick again at three days old, by then if everything is going well then they will have doubled their weight to 130-160 grams.

"When they are around two years old they will go off to join a different collection where they will hopefully find their life partner as Humboldt penguins are monogamous and in many cases stay with the same partner for life."

Visitors will be able to see the new penguins for the first time over the coming weeks.