Fat penguin becomes social media star

2024-09-26 10:00:00

Pesto weighs more than 22kg, more than his parents combined. Hudson and Tango – Pesto’s parents – weigh just over 10kg.

Sea Life Melbourne said Pesto is the heaviest baby bird they have ever had. Pesto eats up to 25 fish a day. His extra weight has helped him attract a large fan base on social media site TikTok.

Image of Pesto the penguin in an aquarium in Australia. (Source: Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium)

The aquarium said the chick has attracted nearly 2 billion views worldwide. “Pesto is bringing immense joy to everyone at Sea Life Melbourne and penguin fans around the world,” said Claire Burrell, general manager of Sea Life Melbourne.

Claire Burrell said the aquarium will continue to share information about Pesto’s growth in the future. As an adult, Pesto’s growth rate will slow down. As a baby, Pesto’s feathers are brown, which will later be replaced by black and white, the typical colors of king penguins.

“Pesto will start to lose his lovely downy feathers. It can take a month or two for the bird to actually shed that feather. After that, Pesto will become beautiful, shiny and slimmer,” a caretaker told the AP.

Aquarium staff predict that Pesto will lose weight as an adult, down to about 33 pounds. According to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Alliance, king penguins weigh between 20 and 40 pounds as adults.

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