Magellanic Penguin Bites Newt Gingrich At St. Louis Zoo

Newt Gingrich loves animals, so much so that his campaign even created and sponsored the site Pets With Newt dedicated to all the pets –and their owners – who are “with Newt” on his continually faltering campaign. Recently, the potential Republican nominee visited the St. Louis Zoo to drum up business and probably take a few photo ops with some lovely critters; however, the visit did not turn out as the man likely expected.

On Friday, Gingrich was taking a two hour behind-the-scenes tour of the zoo when his group happened upon some loveable penguins. Even though penguins are generally friendly around people –having no land predators in the wild – when the former Speaker came close, a bird of the Magellanic variety took an opportunity to bite him. People is reporting the 68-year-old made it through the incident without major injuries, only taking a Band-Aid to cover up the bite before continuing on the tour. Lucky break.

This should be the part where I proclaim how happy I am Gingrich is alright, but honestly, why was he so close to the penguin and what was he trying to do when he incurred the bite? I know ol’ Newt’s got bigger fish to fry, what with deciding whether or not he will eke it out much further in the race for the nomination, but with his track record with animals, perhaps he should consider dropping the “Pets with Newt” platform. Or at least plan to avoid flightless birds in the future.