<p>Sydney: Pesto the huge king penguin chick has drawn hundreds of visitors to an Australian aquarium, and now the bird can count Katy Perry as one of his biggest fans.</p><p>The US pop star, in Melbourne to perform at the Australian Football League Grand Final on Saturday, told <em>Channel Seven</em> she wanted to "kiss Pesto" during her trip.</p>.<p>Chocolate-brown and fluffy, Pesto is a nine-month-old King penguin who weighs 23.5 kg (52 lb), more than twice the combined weight of his parents.</p><p>He is also the largest chick Sea Life Melbourne has ever seen, and that has gained him a global fan base, said Michaela Smale, who has been caring for Pesto since he hatched.</p><p>Most of Pesto's weight comes from the brown fuzz that keeps penguin chicks warm through winter. They later lose weight as they develop adult feathers.</p><p>Like all king penguins, Pesto is non-sexually dimorphic, which means he does not have externally visible traits that distinguish him from female penguins.</p>.'The Penguin' waddles onto HBO.<p>A gender reveal event earlier this month was all over social media, while many of his videos on TikTok have notched up more than a million likes.</p><p>"We've been waiting a very long time to find out Pesto's gender and the fact that he is a boy is super exciting because our last king penguins that hatched were all female," Smale told Reuters.</p><p>Pesto's parents, Tango and Hudson, take care of him along with the keepers who feed him 25 fish a day. The average parental care for a baby king penguin can span over a year.</p>
<p>Sydney: Pesto the huge king penguin chick has drawn hundreds of visitors to an Australian aquarium, and now the bird can count Katy Perry as one of his biggest fans.</p><p>The US pop star, in Melbourne to perform at the Australian Football League Grand Final on Saturday, told <em>Channel Seven</em> she wanted to "kiss Pesto" during her trip.</p>.<p>Chocolate-brown and fluffy, Pesto is a nine-month-old King penguin who weighs 23.5 kg (52 lb), more than twice the combined weight of his parents.</p><p>He is also the largest chick Sea Life Melbourne has ever seen, and that has gained him a global fan base, said Michaela Smale, who has been caring for Pesto since he hatched.</p><p>Most of Pesto's weight comes from the brown fuzz that keeps penguin chicks warm through winter. They later lose weight as they develop adult feathers.</p><p>Like all king penguins, Pesto is non-sexually dimorphic, which means he does not have externally visible traits that distinguish him from female penguins.</p>.'The Penguin' waddles onto HBO.<p>A gender reveal event earlier this month was all over social media, while many of his videos on TikTok have notched up more than a million likes.</p><p>"We've been waiting a very long time to find out Pesto's gender and the fact that he is a boy is super exciting because our last king penguins that hatched were all female," Smale told Reuters.</p><p>Pesto's parents, Tango and Hudson, take care of him along with the keepers who feed him 25 fish a day. The average parental care for a baby king penguin can span over a year.</p>