Fat baby penguin and viral superstar

Amongst the sea of ​​shiny black and white penguins known as the famous Australian aquarium, one bird stands out like a sore thumb.

Chocolate brown, obscenely fluffy, and towering above his own adoptive parents — and heavier than either — Pesto.

Affectionately known as “Fat,” “The Complete Unit” and “Linebacker,” the Chongky chick has achieved viral superstardom and attracted legions of rabid fans, including popstar Katy Perry.

Pesto has reached an audience of billions – dominating social media platforms, securing wall-to-wall breakfast TV coverage in the US and UK and attracting travelers from around the world to Melbourne’s Sea Life Aquarium.

Born in January weighing 200g (7oz), the nine-month-old king penguin is now a hundred times bigger. At 22.5kg (50lb), it is the largest hatchling the aquarium has ever seen.

It’s normal for penguins to layer on some “healthy baby chow” after hatching, the aquarium’s Jacinta Early tells the BBC, but keepers had no idea the pesto would become so big.

“It’s a combination of nature [and] “Really grow,” explains the marine biologist.

Pesto’s biological father was very tall, but he was looked after very well by his adoptive parents, Tango and Hudson: “He eclipses them now, which makes him look ridiculously big.”

Hand-fed several times a day, Ms Early says Pesto’s considerable physical exertion is due to her “very healthy appetite” – a gentle way of saying she eats up to 30 fish a day.

But he’s healthy — basically half fluff — and insists he’ll start losing weight naturally soon.

“If I punched him, my whole finger would be full [disappear] Deep in his feathers,” says Ms Early.

“When he starts dating, he’s going to lose a lot of that baby fluff, and he’s going to lose a lot of that weight, so he’s going to be nice and slim.”

He’s already lost his baby feathers, but he says there’s more to Pesto than his cubby looks anyway.

She describes him as a social butterfly who chatters in a “lovely little whistling tone” and likes to annoy the adult penguins “like any normal toddler”.

“He would be the first person to say hi [to keepers] He also answers to his name.”

“We definitely have our favourites,” Ms Earley says diplomatically. “[But] Pesto seems to be a little kind to all keepers.”

Even though the cops have been obsessed with the chick for a long time, she says it’s been an incredible experience to see the love she’s inspired from the public.

Amid the school holidays, it’s usually a busy period at the aquarium, but guests flock to the penguin exhibit to catch a glimpse of the famous pom-pom.

“[You’ll be] Ask a guest you’ve never met before and ask, ‘Hey, where’s the pesto?’

“It’s really weird to hear people refer to our penguins by their real names because they’re not commonly known.”

Olivia Wilson, who manages Pesto’s demanding media schedule for the fishery, jokes that she doesn’t know what the bigger drawcard could be in Melbourne this weekend: Pesto or the Australian Football League final – a sporting event taken more seriously across the state of Victoria. A public holiday is available the day before the celebration.

“You name a country, and he’s mentioned in the media … There are few places in the world that don’t have pesto love.”

According to his metrics, Pesto reached about 5 billion viewers and seems to have been deposed Thailand’s adorably erratic baby pygmy hippo The internet’s favorite animal.

“People are trading him as Bitcoin, which is incredible,” Ms Wilson says.

“Basically move over Moo Teng.”