Calgary Zoo announces death of 10-year-old king penguin

The Calgary Zoo announced on Friday that one of the facility’s 10-year-old penguins had succumbed to organ failure.

The king penguin, named Tut, began to suffer from an upset stomach at the end of January.

The zoo said Tut would sometimes regurgitate his fish or exhibit a decrease in appetite.

Tut underwent surgery earlier this week after a CT scan identified a large mass in his abdominal coelom.

The zoo said though the penguin seemed to rally, the damage was too great and he passed away on Thursday.

“One of the hardest things we have to do at the Calgary Zoo is to say goodbye to the animals we love and care for,” a statement on the zoo’s website said.

Tut was a hand-raised chick that came to the Calgary Zoo as a young bird in 2012.

“When he arrived, our animal care team members had to help him gradually learn to swim and catch fish on his own,” the zoo said.

“Tut was one of our most approachable and endearing penguins; he was sometimes seen ‘preening’ our keepers and caring for younger chicks in the colony.”