As the internet continues to obsess over adorable baby pygmy hippo Moo Deng, a baby penguin named Pesto at an Australian aquarium, has also been gaining attention due to his unusually large size.

Pesto the king penguin at Melbourne's Sea Life Aquarium; Photo: SEA LIFE Melbourne
Pesto the king penguin at Melbourne’s Sea Life Aquarium; Photo: SEA LIFE Melbourne

This nine-month-old king penguin was born weighing 7 oz and is now a whopping 50 lbs, making him the largest chick the aquarium has ever seen, according to a statement sent to IFLScience by SEA LIFE Melbourne. The chocolatey brown and fluffy penguin is already taller than his foster parents and weighs more than both of them combined.

According to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, the average adult stands 28–39 inches tall and weighs 21–40 pounds. The aquarium attributes Pesto’s unusual size partly to the work of his foster parents and partly to his lineage, as his biological dad is the aquarium’s biggest and oldest penguin.

Pesto the large baby penguin; Photo: SEA LIFE Melbourne
Pesto the large baby penguin; Photo: SEA LIFE Melbourne

“It’s a combination of nature [and] nurture, really,” the marine biologist Jacinta Early tells the BBC. Pesto’s biological father is quite tall, but he’s also been very well looked after by his foster parents, Tango and Hudson: “He eclipses them now, which also makes him look comically large.”

Early also reports that Pesto has a “very healthy appetite” and eats approximately 30 fish daily. But this is a healthy and natural process, and Pesto is expected to lose his baby fluff as he gets older.

She describes Pesto as a social butterfly who chatters away in a “cute little whistle tone” and loves annoying the adult penguins “like any typical toddler would.”

“He tends to be the first one to kind of say hi [to keepers] and he also does respond to his name,” stated Early to the BBC.

According to Olivia Wilson, who has been managing Pesto’s demanding media schedule for the aquarium, Pesto has reached an audience of about 5 billion. Pesto continues to dominate social media algorithms and TV coverage in the US and UK, drawing travelers worldwide to Melbourne’s Sea Life Aquarium.

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