San Diego Zoo penguin fitted with orthopaedic footwear

Penguin Lucas does a test walk with custom orthopaedic footwear at the San Diego Zoo (Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP)

A member of the San Diego Zoo’s African penguin colony has been fitted with orthopaedic footwear to help it deal with a degenerative foot condition.

The four-year-old penguin named Lucas has lesions on his feet due to a chronic condition known as bumblefoot, which covers a range of avian foot problems, the San Diego Wildlife Alliance said in a press release.