Grape-kun, the world-famous Humboldt penguin from Tobu Zoo in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, reportedly passed away
The sad news was relayed online by Tobu Zoo’s official Twitter account on October 12.
“Humboldt penguin ‘s grape died yesterday. Thank you very much for everyone who supported us so far. Also, thanks to Flür who watched Grape through to the end,” the zoo wrote in Japanese but translated through Google Translate.
Many netizens from around the globe were pretty saddened by the news. A lot of them poured their heartwarming condolences on Twitter after it broke out.
Grape-kun became an internet sensation in April 2017 when photos of him staring at a 2D cardboard cutout of Hululu from “Kemono Friends” surfaced online, taken by Twitter user Sisukaton.
The penguin’s rise to fame didn’t end there. Just a few days after his photos went viral, Tobu Zoo sent out its own photo with a caption describing how Grape-kun stared at the 2D cardboard since the early morning of April 25, as noted on Know Your Meme.
It implied that Grape-kun fell in love with Hululu, the anthropomorphic penguin character from the anime series. However, the Humboldt penguin had gone through a terribly rough patch in September after Tobu Zoo removed his waifu from his enclosure due to a storm.
Unfortunately, the zoo did not disclose any further details regarding Grape-kun’s death.
Featured Image via Twitter / @sisukaton
