Wayward NZ Penguin Has 120,000 Web Fans!

By NICK PERRY - Associated Press

• FILE - In this June 29, 2011 file photo, an Antarctic penguin that wound up stranded …

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Happy Feet​ is now a creature of the Internet age.

The wayward emperor penguin, discovered on a New Zealand beach six weeks ago, will soon be returned to the wild — but not before he picked up an online following of more than 120,000.

That's how many unique visitors have logged onto a Web camera monitoring his every move. Thousands more are expected to follow the updates after he's released in coming weeks, with feeds from a GPS tracker attached to his back posted online.

And then there's the chatter on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

His followers don't seem bothered that Happy Feet, nicknamed after the 2006 animated movie, does little more than eat, sleep and occasionally waddle.

"At 11:20 p.m. in New Zealand, Happy Feet was sound asleep with his left foot and flipper sticking out," one Facebook fan wrote. "Five minutes later, he pulled in his left foot and flipper and just got up! :)"

The penguin was found June 20 on Peka Peka Beach, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) northwest of Wellington and far from his Antarctic feeding grounds. He was moved four days later to the Wellington Zoo after becoming ill from eating sand, which he likely mistook for snow.

He has since gained weight and been given a clean bill of health to return to the ocean.

His unusual journey captured worldwide interest, with local TV3 station setting up a webcam on June 30 in his small, ice-filled room at the zoo.

The phone calls began coming in soon after, even prompting the zoo one night to send a veterinarian to check on the penguin after the station was swamped by worried callers convinced Happy Feet had died, zoo spokeswoman Kate Baker said. It turned out the penguin was sleeping.

One woman wrote an email to TV3 saying she was ill but taking "a lot of comfort in simply watching the penguin."

"It's kind of like O. Henry's story 'The Leaf,'" wrote the woman, identified as Janet in Chicago. "I feel as long as the penguin does well, I'll do well."

The station's Wellington bureau chief, Gordon McBride, said he and a colleague came up with the webcam idea and the zoo agreed.

"It's such an unusual thing, and people like to see that," McBride said.

After the "great response" to the penguin's webcam, the zoo is now considering live streaming other animals and the zoo's medical procedures, Baker said.

The zoo raised the $10,000 through a public campaign to cover the costs of housing Happy Feet, Baker said. It has also raised about $8,000 so far for returning him to the sub-Antarctic ocean south of New Zealand — a trip that could cost up to $30,000.

The GPS tracker unit will likely come off when Happy Feet molts in April, if not sooner, though the penguin has also been fitted with a microchip that will be triggered if he roams near monitored colonies in Antarctica, she said.

___

Online:

Happy Feet's webcam: http://www.3news.co.nz/Video/3NewsLiveStream/HappyFeetlivestream.aspx

For updates on the penguin's progress, go to "Wellington Zoo" on Facebook or Twitter.

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Image of the Day

I Don't Want To Be First, a photo by phoenixfeather on Flickr.

Oooo, but that water's cold!!!

Image of the Day

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More Happy Feet News!

Preparations underway to return lost emperor penguin to the wild

Aug 3, 2011

Wellington - A lost emperor penguin that landed in New Zealand was swimming in a chilled pool as preparations were being made to return it o the wild, reports said Wednesday.
The New Zealand Press Association reported that the penguin continued to gain weight and good health.
The young male bird was named Happy Feet by locals after it landed on a beach north of Wellington, at least 3,000 kilometres from its Antarctica home. It had been more than 40 years since an emperor penguin turned up in New Zealand.
The penguin has undergone several procedures to remove sand, sticks and rocks from its stomach and throat after it began eating sand. The birds eat snow in their native environment to cool down.
It now weighs 26 kilograms and is healthy enough to be released into the sea south of New Zealand, but the Department of Conservation is still working out how to transport the penguin in zero degree Celsius conditions.
In the meantime, the penguin was eating well and behaving normally as it returned to swimming in a chilled saltwater pool.
Wellington Zoo veterinary science manager Lisa Argilla estimated that it would cost 30,000 New Zealand dollars (26,280 US dollars) to get the penguin to the best release point for it to be able to return to Antarctica.
'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,' she said.
'We are not prepared to rush that, obviously, because if you rush it, it's going to go wrong.'

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Image of the Day

How Penguins Relax, a photo by Jerry-Bell on Flickr.

Snow What?

Frosty reception: Sea Life Centre penguins given EIGHT TONS of snow to cool off - but refuse to go near it

• Humboldt birds give snow the cold shoulder despite 20C mini-heatwave

By Daily Mail Reporter

 2nd August 2011

A group of adorable penguins left sweltering in the recent mini-heatwave received a staggering eight tons of snow to cool off - but have refused to touch it.
Staff at the Sea Life Centre in Scarborough took the precaution as temperatures began to soar towards 20C in North Yorkshire - with forecasters predicting more sun for the rest of the week.

They ordered masses of the soft stuff from an indoor ski centre 70 miles away, but their efforts have so far been in vain.

Cold shoulder: One of the Scarborough Sealife Centre penguins makes a tentative foray into the snow

What's this? Another Humboldt penguin dosn't look too impressed by its snowy surroundings

The snow arrived just as the sun began to beat down today - but the fussy Humboldt birds turned their beaks up at it.
Staff now face a race against time to convince the cute creatures to cool themselves off before it melts in a few days' time.
Sam I'Anson, marketing co-ordinator for the centre, said the animals were generally suspicious of any changes in their normal routine.

She said: 'They were a bit wary of the snow and none of them wanted to touch it. They have seen snow before because we had a lot last winter and also the winter before, but they are very suspicious of change and don't seem to like it at the moment.
'We sprinkled it around most of their enclosure but they all huddled together away from it. We are hopeful they will get used to it soon.
'They come from Chile but have spent almost all their lives here with us where it is obviously quite rare for the weather to be so hot, so they are not used to it. The snow will help cool them down.

Not impressed: The Humboldts are said to be gathering in groups away from the snow, with this penguin taking his chances in the white stuff

Frozen over: Staff at Scarborough Sealife Centre bought in the eight tons of snow in an attempt to cool the penguins off

'Everyone loves the penguins and they really are one of our most popular attractions.' Sam added that the cuddly creatures were still recovering after intruders broke into their enclosure in May, which may have made them unusually scared of the snow.
CCTV captured the yobs running around near the penguins. Although none of the birds were injured, they were left extremely stressed by the incident because they are very wary of any human contact. Police are still hunting the thugs.
The snow was transported in coolers across to the coast from SNO!zone indoor ski centre. 

Emma Darvill, from the centre, said: 'It's not every day that we get a request like this to deliver snow to a sea life sanctuary but we were only too happy to help. We were able to transport it in specially cooled containers.
'The snow should last for at least a couple of days giving the penguins a place where they can really chill out.'

 Source

SF Zoo Penguin Chicks--What a Caring Zoo!

 

Penguin Graduation: SF Zoo Chicks Graduate From 'Fish School' (PHOTOS)

  8/1/11 

Call the cute police: A crop of baby penguins graduated from the San Francisco Zoo's "fish school" this weekend, and we've got the pictures to prove it.

The five Magellanic chicks (five male, one female) hatched on the zoo's Penguin Island in Mid-May and subsequently spent five weeks the Avian Conservation Center's "fish school," where they learned how to swim and acclimated to their zookeepers. On Saturday, the newly-schooled birds treated onlookers to an overload of adorable as they waddled their way back to Penguin Island in an official graduation ceremony.

The chicks join the zoo's 44 other penguins in their new home -- the largest Magellanic colony in the world, according to zoo officials. "They are world-famous penguins," Anthony Brown, their primary keeper, told the Chronicle.

As part of the festivities, event organizers held a naming contest for the female penguin, who had yet to be graced with an identity. The winning choice? Posey, after our famed Giants catcher Buster Posey.
Take a look at Posey and her pals becoming Big Kid Penguins below:
















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Update on Happy Feet

• August 2, 2011

March of the Penguin: Happy Feet Headed Home?

By Rebecca Howard

Wellington Zoo

Happy Feet cools off in his temporary New Zealand home. View more photos

Happy Feet, the emperor penguin who gained world-wide attention when he accidentally landed in New Zealand during his migration, may be heading home to the Antarctic later this month, said the Wellington Zoo, his temporary host.
The baby penguin was found on Peka Peka Beach, north of Wellington, in June and was transported to the zoo. He quickly gained international fame, with thousands of people logging onto a live video feed of his activities.
Happy Feet underwent five surgical procedures to remove sand and sticks from his stomach. Zoo attendance swelled on the days the procedures were carried out in a glass-fronted operating room.

Associated Press

Happy Feet at Peka Peka Beach in New Zealand. View more photos

He has spent the last month living in an air-conditioned room furnished with fresh ice brought in daily and eating high-grade salmon. The penguin, thought to be around three years old, now weighs 26 kilograms and is ready to head south.
Kate Baker, a zoo spokeswoman, said it would cost NZ$30,000 (US$26,500) to deliver Happy Feet to the sub-Antarctic, thought to be the northern edge of young emperor penguins’ natural habitat. So far, the zoo has raised the NZ$10,000 it has cost to house and feed him and has raised NZ$8,000 toward getting him home.
Happy Feet will be trucked or flown to Bluff, on New Zealand’s South Island, and then transported south by ship. Ms. Baker said his exact departure date would depend on the availability of a ship and the weather.

Happy Feet has a microchip implanted in his leg and will also have an Argos Satellite transmitter attached to his back provided by New Zealand’s Sirtrack. “That will tell us that he has continued to go south and there are plans to have that online so people can see his progress,” said Ms. Baker.
But she noted the transmitter will be essentially glued to his feathers and therefore will only last until he molts in April.
Ms. Baker said zoo staff are confident Happy Feet can fend for himself and that they have no concerns about his fitness level, even though he has only had one recent dip, in a saltwater pool at the zoo, on an icy cold day in Wellington.
“Males are able to stand for months on the ice without swimming, so we don’t have any concerns about that,” she said.

Source

SF Zoo Penguins Present Their Own March of the Penguins

March of the Penguins at San Francisco Zoo

Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Audrey Whitmeyer-Weathers / The Chronicle

Five Magellanic penguin chicks, four males and a female named Posey, rejoin their colony at S.F. Zoo.

View All Images (17)

Giants catcher Buster Posey now has his own namesake at the San Francisco Zoo - an outgoing Magellanic penguin with a cute waddle.
That Posey was a girl penguin didn't seem to be a problem for the hundreds of zoo visitors who turned out to see her and the zoo's four other young penguins rejoin their colony Saturday.
They had spent the last month or so in school, becoming used to their keepers while getting ready to swim.
Dressed appropriately in their natural formal wear, the five classmates made the annual march through a crowd of human well-wishers to mark their official graduation from fish school.

As Posey dived into the penguin pool, she officially joined a zoo family that also includes Giants namesakes Brian Wilson the hippo and Lincecum the howler monkey, also a girl.
Her name was chosen in a random drawing from suggestions submitted by zoo members Saturday morning.
The annual March of the Penguins is a huge draw for the zoo, which has the largest captive Magellanic colony in the world with 49 of the black and white birds.
They are "world-famous penguins," said Anthony Brown, the primary penguin keeper.
The newest members were hatched on Penguin Island and spent their first four to six weeks with their parents.
Still unable to swim - and with their parents increasingly leaving them alone - they were then taken off to fish school to keep them safe, said Brown, who can tell every one of the 49 penguins apart.
"That's Mona," he said, pointing to a penguin 20 feet away that looked to a visitor exactly like all the other penguins.

Nearby swam Sparkles, appropriately named given her prima donna attitude, Brown said.
"All animals have individual personalities," the keeper said. "These guys take it to a whole other level."
Posey, for example, is an outgoing girl who loves to hang out with people.
One of her classmates, Ludwig, is also an extrovert, while the other three still-unnamed penguins are a bit more shy.
Zoo volunteer Adriana Thumm was among the humans who helped socialize the new penguins in fish school - a job that required a background check and some seniority, said the 34-year-old native San Franciscan. She watched with pride as they waddled without fear through the crowd and into their pool.
Thumm spent about three hours total sitting with the penguins, who cuddled and climbed on her.
"They're a little smelly," she said. "But it's totally worth it. You just don't make plans to go out after."
The zoo added the penguin colony to its exhibits in 1984, starting with 69 Magellanic birds, which are considered a near-threatened species, Brown said.

Since then, 200 more have hatched, with some sent to zoos around the world.
The colony has made international headlines over the years, most recently for the split of two gay penguins caught in a love triangle with a female widow.
While the nearby rhino is nice and the gorilla is a big draw for others, the penguins have always been Dylan Buren's favorite.
Dylan, who has been coming to the zoo with his family at least a few times a year since he was born, said he always stops by to hang out and watch the birds, although he wasn't quite sure why he loved them the most.
"I like the water too," the Sonoma County teen said finally.

As zoo members, Dylan, his parents and brother Tyler were allowed in the gates early Saturday to watch the March of the Penguins - the perfect way to spend Dylan's 13th birthday.
Attendees could enter a naming contest for the female penguin, with the winner chosen at random.
With each Buren decked out head to toe in Giants gear, the family came up with their pick in the car Saturday morning.

Posey.

"I don't believe we won," said mom Kristy Buren. "We never win anything."
For nearly an hour after the graduation ceremony ended, Dylan stood at the penguin pool rails watching the birds glide through the water and waddle out onto their island for fish.
Every now and then he would spot his penguin Posey, who stood out with her all-black armband.
He noted that she needed a little orange to go with her black and white tux.
Nonetheless, Posey the penguin was, "the best birthday present ever."

Source

$30,000 Needed for Happy Feet to Return to the Wild

1 August 2011

Wellington Zoo and the Department of Conservation are trying to raise $30,000 to return an emperor penguin to the wild.
The penguin turned up on the Kapiti coast from Antarctica six weeks ago.
A zoo spokesperson says the plan is to release 'Happy Feet' later this month off the coast of Bluff and track his progress.
Caring for Happy Feet has so far cost the zoo about $10,000.
Donations from the public have funded this and the zoo hopes the bird's return to the wild will also be funded through the public's generosity.

Source

Happy Feet Poster # 2

Cute, but I'm not sure if I like it as much as those from the first movie. Hmmm....

Image of the Day

Little Penguin, a photo by rvnix on Flickr.