An abnormally large king penguin chick called Pesto has become a viral sensation.
The chunky penguin chick is a star attraction at the Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium in Australia, where last week he ate more than his own body weight in fish.
More than 1.9 billion people around the world have watched videos of him on social media, with some fans saying they “can’t wait to see him grow”.
Weighing 22kg at nine months old, Pesto is as heavy as his parents Hudson and Tango combined.
The aquarium writes on its website that Pesto has a “hearty appetite of 25 fish a day” and is officially the largest chick that Sea Life Melbourne has ever seen.
It recently shared a video of Pesto’s “gender reveal”, explaining that zookeepers can’t tell the gender of a king penguin just by looking at it – a small blood sample must be sent off for testing.
Some social media users said he is the “definition of oh lawd he comin”, referencing a meme about animals on the heavier side. Others questioned how big his egg was.
Pesto is approaching adulthood now so his growth will plateau soon.
He has started to lose his brown feathers and will replace them with the black and white plumage of a young adult.
His keepers expect he will trim down to about 15kg in the process.
“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. Then he’ll be nice and sleek and streamlined,” said education supervisor Jacinta Early.
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Pesto was born on 31 January and was the only king penguin chick to hatch at the aquarium this year.
Adult king penguins typically weigh between 9.5kg and 18kg, according to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition.
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