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

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First king penguin born at Calgary Zoo grows to over 30 pounds
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 – Jan 26, 2016

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.

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“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.

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“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.

READ MORE: 14-year-old gorilla pregnant with first baby at Calgary Zoo

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