One of a South Coast Zoo’s most famous animal ambassadors has died.
The Santa Barbara Zoo reports that Lucky, one of the zoo’s popular penguins had to be euthanized. The Humboldt penguin had a degenerative foot condition.
Lucky was born with an abnormal foot bone which made it difficult for him to walk.
An operation wasn’t deemed to be a possibility. Workers at the locally based shoe company Teva heard about the problem, and designed custom shoes which allowed Lucky to walk normally. In 2018, worsening problems with the foot forced its amputation.
More recently, health complications impacted his quality of life. That led to the decision to euthanize the 10-year-old penguin.
