At the St. Louis Zoo, Enrique, an elderly penguin, has been wearing custom shoes designed to alleviate the pain from his arthritis.
“This week, our geriatric penguin Enrique was seen showing off the therapeutic support boots he wears for arthritis. Like many zoo animals, Enrique is far older than would be expected if he were to live in the wild, and his cool kicks allow him to live a more comfortable life,” the zoo posted on Twitter.
When a visitor to the zoo noticed Enrique’s unique footwear, his curiosity led him to the details which have since been shared on Facebook:
Joshua Ketelsen is at St. Louis Zoo.
Me: There’s a penguin over there wearing shoes.Zookeeper (deadpan): Yep.*awkward silence*Me: Um… why?Explanation: He’s an extremely old penguin. Far older than would naturally survive in the wild. As a result, he has developed the penguin equivalent of arthritis in his feet. The zoo has a very effective pain relieving cream they can put on, but it washes off when he goes into the water. So they sewed him tiny shoes made of wetsuit fabric to keep the cream on. No more pain and he can even swim with them on.
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