Q: Do you have an update on what happened to the penguin that ended up in New Zealand?
-- Barbara Turner, Newnan
A: Happy Feet, as the emperor penguin has been named, is at the Wellington Zoo, where he is gaining strength so he can be released into the ocean, The New Zealand Herald reported July 26. The juvenile penguin was found in June on Peka Peka Beach, north of the capital city of Wellington, where he had been eating sand, sticks and rocks. Happy Feet had several procedures to remove the debris from his stomach. "There are a lot of factors we need to consider just to keep him safe on the journey, so we just need to work through that and make sure we take him down south and have a successful release," Wellington Zoo veterinary science manager Lisa Argilla told the Herald. "We are not prepared to rush that, obviously -- because if you rush it, it's going to go wrong." It is believed Happy Feet swam nearly 2,000 miles from Antarctica to New Zealand. This is only the second recorded time that an emperor penguin has been found in New Zealand and the first since 1967, according to the Herald. No time has been set for Happy Feet's release. Argilla will have to approve the schedule based on how much stress it would cause the penguin and transportation must be selected. "It'd have to be a boat that can take the penguin that has some form of chilling on it, that can take the media, and that is licensed to go that far south," Department of Conservation biodiversity program manager Peter Simpson told the Herald.
Lori Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or e-mail q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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