‘He’s just a big baby’: Giant penguin not overweight, insist zookeepers
A baby king penguin resembling a huge ball of brown fluff and which eats 25 fish a day is not overweight, according to its keepers.
Pesto is only nine months old but weighs a hefty 22kg (49lbs), while its doting parents, Tango and Hudson, are just 11kg (24lbs) each.
The chubby chick is a star attraction at Sea Life Aquarium in Melbourne and has become an unlikely social media phenomenon, thanks to its voracious appetite.
But Pesto’s bulk has been attributed to good genes – its father is the biggest penguin in the aquarium – and staff are not concerned by the bird’s girth.
“He’s just a big baby. He’s eating quite a bit but he’s not at all considered to be an unhealthy weight,” said Jacinta Early, the aquarium’s education supervisor.
Videos of Pesto have been viewed by nearly two billion people worldwide through social media channels.
Capable of eating its own body weight in fish each week, Pesto is the heaviest penguin chick the aquarium has ever had. It enjoys a varied diet of rainbow trout, salmon and sand whiting.
Experts say the bird is not obese and will start to slim down as it becomes an adult. Its weight is likely to drop to around 15kg (33lbs) and its fluffy brown feathers will be replaced with sleek black and white plumage.
“He’s going to start losing that really adorable baby fluff. It might take him one to two months to really get rid of it,” added Ms Early. “Then he’ll be nice and sleek and streamlined.”
Born in January, Pesto was the only king penguin chick to hatch at the aquarium this year and the first since 2022. Since becoming a celebrity, it has boosted the number of visitors to the aquarium.
‘He’s gorgeous’
“I’ve seen heaps of videos, and there’s like 100,000 likes on them,” said Shaina Pyke, who came to see the chick after watching a clip on TikTok. “It’s very viral.”
Her friend Amanda Robar told the Melbourne Age newspaper: “The sheer size of this baby penguin blew me away, it exceeded my expectations. He’s gorgeous.”
Olivia Wilson, a spokeswoman for Sea Life, said: “Guests are arriving at admissions and double-checking Pesto is definitely on site.
“We have had messages on social media from people who are booking flights to Melbourne and want to know that Pesto will be here. People seem to relate to this chunky guy.”
King penguins are the second-largest species, after emperor penguins, and breed on islands in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic, including South Georgia and the Falkland Islands.
They are preyed on by leopard seals and killer whales. At one time harvested by humans for their eggs, feathers and oil, the population of king penguins is now increasing.
