An elderly penguin at a Saitama zoo has died at the age of 21.. The penguin fell into fame after falling in love with a cardboard cutout of an anime cartoon character.
Officials at Tobu Zoo said Grape passed away Thursday after a brief illness with the object of his desire right by his side. He would have been around 80 in human years.
Earlier this year, after being dumped by his former mate — the adorable penguin became smitten with a cutout of Hululu — a character from the anime “Kemono Friends.”
“Little Grape had a wife called Midori but she left him and found herself a new husband,” Tobu Zoo’s penguin caretaker Eri Nemoto told journalists. “We put the cardboard panel next to him to comfort him to the very end.”
The story of the romantic penguin went viral –earning Grape millions of fans worldwide.
