A pudgy penguin named Pesto has taken social media by storm due to his size. The 9-month-old chick, known for his fluffy appearance, is twice the weight of his parents. However, keepers at Sea Life Melbourne assure that his large size is only temporary.
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00:00A curious and bold bird with what seems like a bottomless appetite.
00:08Pesto gets fed approximately four times a day.
00:11Each feed is about eight fish.
00:13He's often first to greet us in the morning and come wandering over chirping at us for some breakfast.
00:18When Pesto hatched nine months ago he weighed 200 grams.
00:22Now he's 22 and a half kilograms.
00:25And with his 12 kilogram dad in front, Junior clearly dwarfs him and every other bird here.
00:32He's almost double their size.
00:34He's definitely on the upper percentile in terms of king penguin chicks.
00:38King penguin chicks need to stack on weight early to survive sub-zero temperatures and are not yet waterproof.
00:44But Pesto is especially large because of genetics.
00:47He definitely comes from a family of big babies.
00:50And Pesto's eye-catching girth has also seen videos of him rack up millions of views online.
01:00Plus a flurry of visitors locally, internationally and of all ages.
01:05I like them fluffy.
01:07They like them fluffy.
01:09Yeah, he's adorable. He's so sweet.
01:11We've come to see the fluffy thing.
01:13The penguins seem unaware of the fuss but the aquarium is warning visitors to be careful.
01:18If we do have people banging on the acrylic, using flash photography or trying to make a penguin follow their finger,
01:24that's really not wanted behaviour as that can stress them out.
01:27There are about 60 penguins in this exhibition right now but Pesto is the only chick.
01:32So he's not only super famous outside, he's very important in here.
01:35So in many ways it's his kingdom for now.
01:38It is nesting and breeding season so hopefully more chicks will hatch in Melbourne.
01:42And in a few months Pesto himself will get a summer body.
01:46Pesto is healthy. We're not concerned about his weight at all.
01:49He is a chunky monkey but once those baby feathers come off he'll shrink like a balloon
01:54and he will be slender and beautiful and ready to take his first dip in the pool.
01:59Or perhaps a giant splash.