Global General

Sick penguin stranded in NZ offered lift home

By Nick Perry (Agencies)
Updated: 2011-06-27 08:26

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A young Emperor penguin stranded in New Zealand has survived two medical procedures and now has an offer of a lift home.

Yet the aquatic bird that many are calling Happy Feet - after the lighthearted 2006 movie - is not out of danger yet. The penguin remained on an intravenous drip on Saturday and faces another procedure on Monday to remove more sand from its digestive system.

If it does pull through, a businessman wants to take it by boat to Antarctica.

Happy Feet arrived on Peka Peka Beach, about 65 km northwest of Wellington, on June 20, the first time in 44 years that an Emperor penguin has been spotted in the wild in New Zealand. Typically, they spend their entire lives in and around Antarctica.

At first Happy Feet seemed fine, but as the week progressed, the bird became more lethargic. It ate a lot of sand, apparently mistaking it for snow, which Emperor penguins eat in Antarctica to hydrate themselves during the frozen winters.

By Friday, conservation officials decided its condition had worsened to the point that it would likely die without intervention. So they transported the penguin in a tub of ice to the Wellington Zoo.

Zoo spokeswoman Kate Baker said the bird was put on anesthesia for two-and-a-half hours on Friday while veterinarians flushed its throat and stomach with water to remove sand. A procedure on Saturday was more of the same, yet the penguin's digestive system still remained clogged.

New Zealand investment adviser Gareth Morgan, who is leading an expedition to Antarctica next February, on Saturday offered Happy Feet a trip home aboard a Russian icebreaker. But it would not be for another eight months.

"Of course until that time Happy Feet will have to be cared for here in Wellington, where we're lucky enough to have a great community of wildlife experts, capable not just of pumping sand but also ensuring this wayfaring fellow is hosted appropriately until it's time to set sail," Morgan wrote on his website.

"A sea passage is far more akin to the animal's natural rite of passage across the Southern Ocean than any trip in a Globelifter jet might be, with no risk of deep vein thrombosis," Morgan added jokingly.

Whether officials choose to take Morgan up on his offer may depend on Happy Feet's health.

Peter Simpson, a program manager for New Zealand's Department of Conservation, said that there was a chance the bird might have picked up a disease in warmer climates, which staff wouldn't want to introduce back into the Antarctic colony.