Huge Penguin Chick Named Pesto Wins Fans Worldwide

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A massive king penguin chick named Pesto, who weighs as much as his two parents combined, has become a social media celebrity and a star attraction at an Australian aquarium.

Weighing 22 kilograms (49 pounds) at nine months, Pesto is the heaviest penguin chick Sea Life Melbourne has ever had, its education manager Jacinta Early said on Friday.

In contrast, her adorable parents, Hudson and Tango, each weigh 24 pounds (11 kilos).

Pesto’s global fame has grown with its size. More than 1.9 billion people around the world have seen it on social media, according to a statement from the aquarium.

He ate more than his own substantial body weight in fish over the past week: 24 kilograms (53 pounds), Early said.

The veterinarian’s advice is that this amount of food is healthy for a chick approaching adulthood.

Its growth will stagnate as it enters its fledging period. It has begun to lose its brown feathers and will replace them with the black and white plumage of a young adult.

His keepers expect him to lose about 15 kilos (33 pounds) in the process.

“He’s going to start losing his lovely baby hairs. It might take him a month or two to completely get rid of them. Then he’ll be nice and sleek and sleek,” Early said.

But she hopes Pesto will remain recognizable as the sought-after TikTok celebrity he has become for another two weeks.

For now, he is a star attraction.

“Such a small head for such a big body,” remarked one admirer Friday as a crowd gathered against the glass of the penguin enclosure at feeding time.

Born on January 31, Pesto is the only king penguin chick to hatch at the aquarium this year and the first since 2022, when there were six. It is unclear why there were none last year.

Adult king penguins weigh between 9.5 and 18 kilograms (21 pounds), according to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, a global environmental group.

They are the second largest penguin species in the world, after the emperor penguin.