"Happy Feet" the Wayward Penguin
Posted: Saturday, August 13, 2011
by Jack H. Schick
Update: They've changed their minds. Happy Feet is getting a ride home
On Monday, June 20, Christine Wilton and her miniature Schnauzer, Millie, were taking a walk along Peka Peka Beach on New Zealand’s North Island when they encountered an Emperor Penguin plodding along in the sand. “It was out-of-this-world to see it…like someone just dropped it from the sky,” Wilton said. “It looked like ‘Happy Feet’ (referring to a 2006 animated musical feature about a lost penguin)—it was totally in the wrong place.” However, before the story was over, it was certainly not a cartoon and the chances of it having a happy ending are slim.
The last time a penguin was found in New Zealand was 1967. “Happy Feet” quickly became a curiosity and a celebrity. Conservation experts asked the crowds who trekked out to the beach to see it to stay 30 feet back and to keep their dogs leased and away from it. Despite it being winter in New Zealand, the bird was most likely becoming hot and bothered. Crowds of ‘admirers’ and camera buffs would only increase the bird’s stress level, they were warned.
Emperor Penguins are the largest penguin species. They grow up to four feet tall and weigh up to 75 pounds. Antarctica is their exclusive habitat. The aquatic, flightless birds will often spend months at sea feeding on krill and squid. The 2005 documentary film, “March of the Penguins” chronicled their annual journey to breeding grounds deep in the Antarctic and helped increase interest and curiosity about the animals.
“Happy Feet” became thirsty and began eating wet sand which it may have mistaken for snow. Penguins can drink some sea water, but usually hydrate and reduce their body temperature by eating snow. The bird soon showed signs of being overheated and became lethargic. On June 24th, veterinarians and other ‘experts’ examined him and decided to pack him in a large tub of ice and truck him to the Wellington Zoo. Ms. Wilton, to whom the bird had become like a friend, said, “I’m so pleased it’s going to be looked after. He needed to get off the beach. He did stand up this morning, but you could tell that he wasn’t feeling well.”
Zoo spokesperson Kate Baker said the vets decided to take action to try to save “Happy Feet.” On June 27th, hundreds of people gathered to watch as an endoscopic procedure was performed. A camera on a tube was fed through the penguin’s swollen stomach and intestines. The gastro-intestinal tract was flushed to remove some of the sand and small pieces of driftwood it ate after coming ashore. Medications were given to increase bowel activity to purge the remaining debris. An x-ray a few days later showed improvement. “Happy Feet” was soon walking again and eating fish slurry prepared by zoo personnel.
Over the next month, “Happy Feet” made a full recovery. He was kept in a room cooled to 46 degrees F., and given a bed of ice to sleep on. The question then arose; “What do we do with him?” The equivalent of over $30,000 had already been spent on his treatment and care. A scientific group offered to transport the bird back to Antarctica when it returns to its station in the spring, but the zoo does not want the responsibility and expense of keeping the bird until then.
There are also serious concerns about re-introducing “Happy Feet” to the indigenous population. Peter Simpson, a program manager for New Zealand’s Department of Conservation argues that the penguin could have caught a disease by swimming through warmer waters and living for months in an alien environment. Officials would not want to be responsible for introducing illness into the isolated Antarctic penguin colonies. Ornithologist Kevin McGowan said, “This is a continuing problem for those of us dealing with these incidents. There’s a war between people’s good intentions and ignorance about what is best for the animal…What we may think it a benign intervention might not be.”
A decision has finally been made to set “Happy Feet” adrift off the south coast of New Zealand and “let nature take its course.” He will have to swim back to where he came from on his own. It’s agreed that the trip will be extremely difficult since it is winter in the southern hemisphere, which means it is dark almost 24 hours a day, and trying to travel there this time of year would be very dangerous. McGowan said, “Birds get lost. It happens all the time. But it’s natural that when something as charismatic as a penguin shows up, people want to help. It really has a better chance of surviving if we don’t mess with it. It’s a rough world out there, but he can swim a long way and do a lot out there. If you took him to a tank in the zoo, is that better?”
“Happy Feet’s” fate is now in his own hand, or flippers. We can only wish him luck and hope he finds his way home, but we will never know what happens to him.
Final Update: Within a few days they lost track of Happy Feet. the pick up no signal from his signal device. Again, we will never know.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Great job writing this and doing so without interjecting your own thoughts and ideas on the subject. We can only hope the little guy will have the guts and necessary luck to make it in the wild.
My only thoughts here are that after all the saving and effort that was put into the little bird, why then would they turn him out at the most inopportune time of the year when nature and its elements are most likely to foil his every effort and his real chances for survival are so diminished. Makes me think they could have held him until conditions turned in his favor. Oh well, we'll never really know.
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