First king penguin born at Calgary Zoo grows to over 30 pounds

By Gil Tucker Reporter  Global News

 
WATCH ABOVE: A big attraction of a completely different kind is getting a lot of attention at the Calgary Zoo. Here’s Gil Tucker with a cute new arrival who really stands out from the crowd.

It was just five months ago that “Nero” became the first king penguin to hatch at the Calgary Zoo.
Now, after a steady diet of regurgitated fish from his mom and dad, Nero has grown to be the biggest penguin in the colony.
His latest weekly weigh-in shows him tipping the scales at almost 16 kilograms, or 35 pounds.
“It’s just amazing, we had never seen anything like it before,” zoo visitor Lesley-Ann Wilkinson said. “Furry, like a wooly mammoth.”
Along with his distinctive brown “baby feathers”, his stature has made Nero a big hit with the crowds.
“We’ve seen him since he was a chick, so we’ve loved watching him grow,” Krista Steinke, a regular zoo visitor, said.

“We think it’s funny that he’s two-and-a-half pounds bigger than my three-and-a-half year old.”

It’s normal for fast-growing chicks like Nero to surpass the weight of adult king penguins.
He’ll probably slim down a bit as he starts eating his own fish over the next few months, and by the summer his “baby feathers” will probably be gone.

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