For a variety of reasons, we adore our pets. They give us hugs and kisses. They’re really cute. They keep us on our feet. But, maybe most significantly, they’re the finest comedians on the planet.
Most common pets would be dogs, cats, hamsters, and birds but have you ever considered a penguin as a pet? While many people believe penguins to be incredibly lovely, few of us would dare to keep them as pets in the appropriate circumstances but not for this family.
Meet LaLa, a rescued king penguin that became part of the Nishimoto family, who also became such a local attraction that journalists from all over the world tried to contact them and interview them. Recorded by Real TV in the 1990s, a lovely video showed the penguin walking from his home to the local market all by himself, bringing some fresh fish for himself and his human family.
When the documentary was made, LaLa, who was approximately ten years old at the time, was said to spend his days in a dedicated air-conditioned chamber in the house and roaming the streets of his town. After a fisherman spotted him entangled in a fishing net with a damaged beak and wing, the penguin was adopted by the Nishimoto family. When the guy returned from his fishing expedition, he gave the bird to the Nishimoto family, who cared for him and nursed him back to health. LaLa got connected to his new human family during this period and refused to leave them even when he was well enough to do so. That’s sweet, isn’t it!
As a result, the Nishimoto family chose to keep LaLa with them and made the necessary adjustments so that she could live comfortably in their house. They even put up a refrigerated chamber for him under their house because Japan’s temperature is so different from that of the frigid Antarctic where he grew up. He soon began joining them to the local market, which he enjoyed so much that he continued returning. The family decided to put a little backpack on LaLa and teach him how to acquire fish from the market on his own after recognizing his interests.
He was well-known in the town he resided in, and the way he’d travel to get to the fish store was dubbed the ‘lala-chan road,’ and people would spray water on it on hot summer days to keep his small feet from burning on the pavement. If you’re wondering how the penguin consumes fish from the store without paying, the owner’s family would go to the fish business and pay the penguin’s bill. LaLa lived on for 10 years with the family until he died of old age in 1996.
Now that’s one interesting pet to keep but hey, don’t go looking for this furry creature okay!
Sources: Up Worthy, Yeehaw Nation