Ralph, a Humboldt penguin and resident of Marwell Wildlife, near Winchester, Hampshire, England, has an inexplicable habit of losing all of his feathers at once when he molts, instead of gradually. Usually as a penguin loses old feathers, new ones begin growing in. But not so nine year old Ralph. His keepers at Marwell Wildlife's Penguin World therefore hit upon creating a protective wet suit for poor Ralph, since until the new feathers grow in, the bald penguin risks rather serious sun burn. They made his wetsuit from the leg of a man's wet suit, and it seems to be working quite well for Ralph. His own feathers should have grown back in three weeks or so. There's video of him, as well as more pictures, here.

The Humboldt Penguin, or Spheniscus humboldti, is a South American penguin. They usually breed in coastal Peru and Chile. They tend to nest on islands off the coast, or burrow in guano, or, sometimes, shallow scrapes in the rocky outcrops. They are officially listed as vulnerable, largely because much of their habitat has been destroyed. The two "gay penguins" Z and Vielpunkt at Germany's Bremerhaven Zoo currently raising an otherwise orphaned chick are male Humboldt penguins.