Ralph the penguin: Britain's best loved penguin dies aged 19
Sensitive Ralph, a rare Humboldt penguin, moulted his insulating plumage too quickly, leaving him with sensitive bald patches.
Staff at Marwell Zoo initially made him a weatherproof coat cut from the leg of a wetsuit but when surfing giants O’Neill heard about his plight they created a custom wetsuit, normally the reserve of the sport’s superstars.
Sadly, Ralph, who was hatched on New Year’s Day 1999 and moved to the Winchester wildlife park from Germany’s Nuremberg Zoo in 2006, was diagnosed with arthritis last year.
The incurable and degenerative age-related disease was well managed with drugs but, say Marwell, after “taking all factors into consideration and to prevent distress or pain”, Ralph has been put to sleep.