The staff at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium were quite excited to see a baby king penguin hatch, the first one in two years at the Australian facility. Pesto weighed less than a pound at the time. Normally, king penguins grow to be between 31 and 37 pounds as adults. But Pesto, at nine months of age now, weighs 51.8 pounds! Pesto is being raised by penguin couple Tango and Hudson, both weighing around 24 pounds, and he towers over both of them now. But they aren't his biological parents. Pesto's sire Blake is a large penguin at 39 pounds, and Pesto even eclipses him.
It's possible Pesto might lose weight as he matures into an adult, but he'll still be on the large side for a king penguin. His size may be due to his appetite- he eats around 25 fish a day! Meanwhile, this big chick has become a media darling, drawing crowds into the aquarium to see the penguin that rivals Baby Huey. Read more about Pesto and the other king penguins at Smithsonian.
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