Big chunk of penguin: Pesto towers over his peers and eats tons of fish

Melbourne (Australia) - Pesto is a hunk: At the tender age of nine months, the chick already weighs 22.5 kilos. That's quite a lot for a penguin - even though Pesto is a king penguin, the second largest species of flightless seabird.

In the aquarium opened in Melbourne in 2000, "Pesto" (left) is already the biggest penguin of all time.
In the aquarium opened in Melbourne in 2000, "Pesto" (left) is already the biggest penguin of all time.  © Uncredited/SEA LIFE Melbourne/AP/dpa

He is fed four times a day at the Australian Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium - and, according to his keepers, eats up to eight fish each time.

The baby bird with its enormous girth has since become a social media star and its videos are going viral online.

"My goodness, he's really gigantic!" wrote one user about the latest video on Instagram, which shows the giant pesto waddling behind a much smaller penguin.

"He has stolen my heart," said another.

The animal is already the largest penguin of all time at the aquarium, which opened in 2000, as reported by ABC.

When Pesto was born at the end of January, he weighed just 200 grams. Today, at 90 centimetres tall, he towers over all the other penguins in the enclosure, including his biological father Blake, who was previously the largest of his species at the Melbourne Aquarium. Meanwhile, Pesto is being raised by his "foster parents" Tango and Hudson, who each weigh less than twelve kilos.

He is therefore already almost as heavy as the two of them together, emphasized his keeper Michaela Smale.

King penguin Pesto will lose weight when he changes his outfit

Pesto's fluffy brown plumage distinguishes it from its conspecifics.
Pesto's fluffy brown plumage distinguishes it from its conspecifics.  © Rod McGuirk/AP/dpa

Pesto is still wearing the fluffy brown plumage typical of king penguin offspring, which emphasizes his rotund appearance.

However, when he loses this in the coming months and changes into his black and white "tuxedo" outfit, experts predict that he will lose a lot of weight and girth.

"As soon as the baby feathers fall out, he will shrink like a balloon and be slim and beautiful - and ready to take his first steps into the pool," explained another of the penguin hummer's keepers.

Nevertheless, he will probably always be the proverbial biggest in Melbourne.

And what about Pesto's personality? It's apparently just as distinctive as his stature: the penguin child is "bold" and "self-confident", according to reports. "He loves his keepers and is often the first to come chirping to us for breakfast in the morning."

The lump has no idea of his worldwide popularity.