Newt Gingrich Bit by Penguin at St. Louis Zoo, Gets Band-Aid for Bite Wound

Republican candidate Newt Gingrich was bit by a small penguin at the St. Louis Zoo last week and was seen sporting a Band-Aid on his bite mark.

According to Reuters, Gingrich was getting a private tour at the St. Louis Zoo on Friday before a speaking engagement at the National Rifle Association convention. According to zoo officials, who confirmed the incident on Monday, Gingrich was bit by a small Magellanic penguin in the hand and was given a bandage.

He was nipped on the finger by a penguin, zoo public relations director Susan Gallagher told Reuters. A Band-Aid took care of the injury.

According to Gallagher, Gingrich, who loves animals and the zoo, passed unscathed through Big Cat Country and avoided contact with the crocodiles in the Herpetarium. But one of the two penguins he was privately visiting took a bite out of his hand.

But Gingrich, who wrote the forward for America's Best Zoos: A Travel Guide for Fans & Families, promised the bite incident will not dissuade him from visiting animals.

Newt is a zoo fan. He will be back, spokesman R. C. Hammond told Reuters.