IT’S THE STARDOM that every young penguin dreams of: almost 70,000 hits on YouTube and a feature spot on one of the web’s most popular meme sites.

But will it win the poor bird any friends?

A video of a lonely penguin at Fota Wildlife Park in Cork has become an internet sensation, garnering thousands of YouTube hits. The clip taken by blogger Sean McEntee shows feeding time at the park, when all the penguins scramble towards a golf buggy bringing their dinner except for one, which stands alone and- if it isn’t just our imagination – looks forlorn.

Fota Wildlife Park tweeted earlier today “One of our penguins has become a YouTube sensation”. The clip has also been picked up by meme site I Can Haz Cheezburger (who dubbed in some soft, slow piano music for extra effect).

Video: The lonely penguin

But perhaps we shouldn’t feel too sorry for the little fella. Sean McEntee wrote on his blog: “People have speculated as to why the penguin didn’t move when the rest did [...] The lone penguin is standing in the area where the penguins get fed, so he was probably just smart and very experienced. “Why move when i know the food is going to come to me?””

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