SYDNEY: A massive, fluffy brown furball waddled across his Australian aquarium home, towering over the other penguins.

Pesto, a nine-month-old penguin chick, has shot to fame for his massive weight of 22.5 kilogrammes (49.6 pounds).

He is the largest penguin the Sea Life Melbourne has ever seen. With a healthy diet of 25 fish a day, his fluffy frame may grow yet.

Aquarium keeper Michaela Smale said Pesto's parents, Tango and Hudson, weigh only about 11 kilograms each – making Pesto more than their combined weight.

"When he hatched, he was 200 grams (0.44 pounds)," Smale told Australia's national broadcaster.

She added that king penguin chicks bulk up to protect themselves against the freezing Antarctic temperatures.

Although podgy Pesto is chunkier than most chicks.

"He is a chunky monkey, but he is healthy," she told the ABC.

Pesto's genetics also account for his massive size – his ancestors were some of the biggest and oldest penguins the aquarium has housed.

As the chicks get older, they shed their fluffy, brown outer layer as their adult feathers develop.

In the wild, king penguins are found in Antarctica and their population remains fairly stable, with about 1.6 million breeding pairs.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, king penguin populations were almost wiped out because they were heavily hunted for their meat, oil and blubber.

  - AFP