Happy Feet Set for Ocean Journey Soon

By Vaimoana Tapaleao

Jul 20, 2011

Happy Feet. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Happy Feet may be leaving New Zealand shores as early as next month.
The emperor penguin has been cared for at the Wellington Zoo since it was found on Peka Peka Beach last month.
Zoo spokeswoman Kate Baker told the Herald last night that Happy Feet could be returned to the Southern Ocean as early as next month.
"It's looking like it will be about mid to late August. Right now we're just figuring out how we will release him," she said.
Ms Baker said the penguin was doing better and better each day and had gained 1.6kg when he was weighed on Friday.
He is about 24kg now, she said.
"At this stage, we're still taking care of him, obviously. He's continuing to gain weight and is looking good."
More than 600 broad-billed prion birds are being cared for at the zoo.
The injured birds are among hundreds found on the country's beaches after a massive storm last week.
Therefore Happy Feet was no longer the only bird in the spotlight, Ms Baker said.
"He's still a favourite with staff, though."
The zoo is still receiving donations from the public for the Happy Feet appeal.

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• Baby Penguin released back into the wild following a spell at wildlife hospital.

   
   
   
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Videos: Adelie Penguins

Happy Feet Update!

Antarctic penguin plumps up in New Zealand

Jul 17, 2011  |  

 

Happy Feet is getting fat and sassy in New Zealand. / MARK MITCHELL/Associated Press

Paddling penguin

Happy Feet, the bewildered Emperor penguin who took a 2,000-mile wrong turn and ended up in New Zealand last month, is a boy. Didn't you just know it?
Wellington Zoo officials say DNA tests confirmed the suspicions.
Officials still haven't figured out how they're going to transport him back to the ocean near the Antarctic. In the meantime, he's getting fat and sassy at the zoo.
Now that his belly has been cleared of the sand and sticks he ate on the beach, he's feasting on more than 4 pounds of salmon every day, thanks to public donations.
Happy Feet has gained 6 pounds since he was rescued. And he's getting feisty.
"When the vet grabs him for medication ... he's fighting a lot more. He's really looking good," said zoo spokeswoman Kate Baker.

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Hume: Animal celebrities and the disappearance of species

Published On Sat Jul 16 2011

Wellington Zoo resident vet Dr. Baukje Lenting, left, and manager of veterinary science Dr. Lisa Argilla care for an Antarctic penguin that wound up stranded on a New Zealand beach at Wellington Zoo on June 29. It may be months before the young emperor penguin, affectionately dubbed "Happy Feet," fully recovers. Mark Mitchell/AP

By Christopher Hume Urban Issues, Architecture

 

As Joseph Stalin might have put it: the death of one animal is a tragedy, the death of millions a statistic.
For several weeks now, the world has been anxiously following the saga of Happy Feet, an off-course emperor penguin that left the Antarctic and somehow ended up in New Zealand, injured but alive.
Since being found, the bird has received emergency surgery, been given a home in the Wellington Zoo, become a candy marketing tool and received sponsorships from a number of local businesses.
Once the lucky avian has recovered, it will be taken to a location from which it can make its way home again. A lot of people would be happy to be so well treated.

Meanwhile, back in the part of the world undiscovered by global media, Happy Feet’s species is under serious threat from climate change. Scientists say they might not survive beyond the end of the century.
Last week, alerted on Twitter, a gaggle of heroic British Columbians rescued four white-sided dolphins that had beached themselves on Vancouver Island. This was just the most recent example; there have been many over the years.
Though some dolphin species are faring better than others, their long-term prospects don’t look good. They are being “harvested,” poisoned, stressed, drowned and displaced around the planet.

Then there are the orphaned bears, lonely elephants, lost deer, marooned ptarmigans, stranded whales, oil-smothered pelicans, wounded raccoons, burnt koalas, finless sharks ... It seems all creatures great and small can expect their 15 minutes in the spotlight.
And let’s not forget the dogs that save their owners from certain death, that trek across continents to return home, and the cats that thwart thieves and sexual predators.
With every passing story we feel a little better, a little closer to the natural world and the animals with whom we not only share the planet but upon whom we depend. These tales warm our hearts or send us into frenzies of indignation.

Though it’s true we humans tend to favour furry and cute over scaly and cold, our emotions are real.
Yet experts warn we are in the midst of the sixth great extinction, and although the numbers vary wildly, species are disappearing faster than evolution can replace them. Similarly, natural resources are being consumed faster than they can be renewed.
Loss of habitat, global warming, pollution and overhunting and overfishing make life difficult, often precarious, for countless species. This isn’t because we don’t care about animals; obviously we do.
Perhaps this contradiction between feelings and actions is a variation of Hannah Arendt’s notion of “the banality of evil.” She coined the phrase in an essay on the notorious Nazi bureaucrat Adolf Eichmann, but the term describes the enormous destruction (evil) perpetrated by ordinary people going about their business, not psychopaths and monsters.

The degradation of the natural world happens not through the acts of a few evil geniuses but the cumulative effect of billions of individual decisions. It’s everyone’s fault — and therefore no one’s.
The fate of a species, a population, an ecosystem, is an abstract concept. By contrast, the plight of a single creature is specific, even personal. Every emperor penguin may be a potential Happy Feet, but only one is an actual animal celebrity.
And as the number of animals declines, the number of animal celebrities grows. They have become a regular feature of our lives, much sought-after by media. Perhaps that has something to do with the need to convince ourselves that we really do care, even though we don't.

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Image of the Day (Yesterday's)

Penguin in the snow, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

Image of the Day

That's another penguin, a photo by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

Woodland Park Zoo's New Penguin Chicks Still Tucked Away

July 15, 2011

Posted by Matt Kreamer

By staff reporter Jessie Van Berkel

A round, fuzzy, gray penguin flapped flightless wings and wriggled in Celine Pardo's hands this week as she returned him to a behind-the-scenes burrow at Woodland Park Zoo.

STEVE RINGMAN/THE SEATTLE TIMES

Celine Pardo holds one of two Humboldt penguin chicks born last month at Woodland Park Zoo.

The month-old chick is one of two Humboldt penguins born recently at the zoo. Fourteen of the birds have been born there since the exhibit opened two years ago.
Humboldt penguins are an endangered species native to Peru and Chile. The zoo is breeding the penguins and trying to diversify the gene pool of the population.


The two chicks are genetically valuable because their parents have only had one set of babies in the past and their genes are underrepresented, said Shawn Pedersen, a collection manager at the zoo.
Zookeepers hope the latest additions will be able to join the display by the end of August. For now, they're tucked away in dark, confined spaces, where they nest with their parents.

Pardo and another zookeeper are in charge of the penguins and take out the chicks a couple times a week. On Tuesday, Pardo wiped down a penguin with a washcloth, checked it for injuries and weighed it in a bucket.
Soon the zookeepers will prepare the two animals for life in the display by acclimating them to water, people and loud noises, and teaching them to respond to their names.

Neither bird yet has a name -- that'll come as the penguins' personalities develop, Pardo said. Previous penguins were named Milagro -- "Miracle" in Spanish, because the bird survived a broken shell -- and Diablo, who was particularly fiesty, Pardo said.
Both Pedersen and Pardo have histories of working with birds at the zoo, but said penguins are an entirely different world.

Pardo spends five days a week with the penguins and knows their quirks and personalities.
"Their behaviors are so complex,"she said. When zoo-goers watch a display for a few minutes, they only have a snapshot of the animals. "If you sat and watched them for hours, they do so many things, you have no idea."

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South African Scientists to Track Penguins in the Wild

A African Penguin with a newly placed satellite transmitter swims in the swiming pool at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds, SANCCOB, after they fitted the defice on the outskirts of the city of Cape Town, South Africa, Friday, July 15, 2011. South African scientists are fitting young penguins raised by humans with satellite transmitters so they can track them once released into the wild, hoping to gather information that might one day lead to new breeding colonies of the endangered birds.(AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam) A worker holds a African Penguin as a cowoker prepairs the satellite transmitter, left, to be palced on its back at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds, SANCCOB, situated on the outskirts of the city of Cape Town, South Africa, Friday, July 15, 2011. South African scientists are fitting young penguins raised by humans with satellite transmitters so they can track them once released into the wild, hoping to gather information that might one day lead to new breeding colonies of the endangered birds.(AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam) By DONNA BRYSON, Associated Press – July 15, 2011 JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African scientists are fitting young penguins raised by humans with satellite transmitters so they can track them once released into the wild, hoping to gather information that might one day lead to new breeding colonies of the endangered birds. Researchers used tape and glue to attach a transmitter the size of a matchbox to a 10-week-old African penguin Friday. The 3-kilogram (6.6-pound) bird named Richie will be given a week to get used to swimming in a pool with the 30-gram (1-ounce) device before he's released into the ocean from the southern tip of Africa. The first penguin in the project was released last month, and in all, five are to be released over a few months. The African penguin, endearingly awkward on land and a gracefully efficient hunter in the water, is found only in southern Africa. It also is known as the jackass penguin because of its braying call. Tourists from around the world who have seen African penguins in a colony near Cape Town may not realize just how rare sightings are becoming. The numbers of African penguins have plummeted from up to 4 million in the early 1900s to 60,000 as of the last census in 2010, said Venessa Strauss of the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds. The foundation has raised the penguins being used in the study. Man is the reason for the drastic decrease, she said. Humans collected penguin eggs for food, ending the practice in the 1960s. The harvesting of penguin guano for fertilizer stripped a hard layer of the substance in which adult birds had burrowed to create nests safe from predators and the sun. More recently, a new threat came with oil spills and commercial fishing's competition for the anchovies and sardines on which penguins feed. Richard Sherley of the University of Cape Town's Animal Demography Unit recognizes his South African team is in the very early stages of a long and complex process. They hope tracking the young penguins will answer questions about how early experiences influence the choice of breeding colonies. "Not so much is known about the early life of African penguins," Sherley said. The tape and glue tracking device has been successfully used in studies before. The groups said the device should stay on the penguin for enough time, possibly months, to provide useful information. Once scientists know more about the birds' behavior, they will be able to choose a sight for a breeding colony that will suit them, and that will be protected and close to abundant stocks of food. Long-term plans include setting up a hatchery. Strauss's group raises chicks abandoned by their parents or orphaned as a result of oil spills. They strive not to tame the birds. The first one to be released, nicknamed Lucy, was "as wild as anything," Strauss said. "She bites. She's quite a meanie," she said. The birds need to be tough. In the wild, parents simply stop feeding the chicks when they are big enough to begin fending for themselves, anywhere from two to four months after hatching. The young birds wander into the water in search of food, with no adults to teach them how to forage. The birds start breeding between the ages of 2 and 6. Birds raised by humans are sturdier because they are better fed. The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds tests them in the water to ensure they can swim well before they are released. But beyond that, their release experience is the same as that of a wild bird, Sherley said. "The chick has to have an innate capacity to find food when it hits the water," he said, adding that Lucy showed she could do that. Strauss said the researchers have already gathered surprising data from Lucy about how far a young bird is able to swim. Lucy has averaged 28 miles (45 kilometers) a day. Using special glue and tape to affix tracking devices is standard procedure, and scientists expect the device to stay on long enough to give them good information. "It's fascinating, because we've never had this information," Strauss said. "It's crucial for us to know what happens to them." Such tracking might have given a fascinating look into the 2,000-mile journey an emperor penguin took from Antarctica to end up stranded on a New Zealand beach last month. The penguin, nicknamed "Happy Feet", is recovering at the Wellington Zoo, where it underwent a medical procedure to flush out much of the beach sand it swallowed, apparently mistaking it for snow. Wildlife officials plan to release the penguin in the Southern Ocean once he recovers. Hopes for the African penguin study and conservation project, which also involve the South African government's Department of Environmental Affairs, are strong. The participants look to other successful conservation projects. The plains of North America couldn't be further removed from Africa's Cape, but conservationists there have managed to bring back species from "unthinkable numbers" using animals bred in captivity, said Martha Kauffman, director of the World Wildlife Fund's Northern Great Plains program. WWF researchers have reasoned with wary ranchers, fought disease and struggled to find habitats to bring the numbers of black-footed ferrets to about 1,000, she said in an interview. In the 1980s, there were just 18. "What's exciting is that we're making good progress," said Kauffman, who was not involved in the penguin project. Olivier Langrand, a bird expert with the wildlife group Conservation International, cited dozens of examples, including successful efforts to bring back the California condor and the Arabian oryx. Success took money, expertise and time — sometimes decades, Langrand said in an interview. Source

Image of the Day

Royal Penguin, a photo by Tim Spedding on Flickr.

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Video Post--Cuteness Alert!!!

Salmon better than sand for Happy Feet

July 14, 2011

Veterinary surgeon Lisa Argilla examines an emperor penguin, nicknamed Happy Feet, at Wellington Zoo. Photo: Reuters

He may not be frolicking in the icy wilderness of the Antarctic, but at least he's tucking into some good quality salmon.
Happy Feet, the lost emperor penguin who turned up alone on a New Zealand beach almost a month ago, has been packing on the pounds since he was brought to Wellington Zoo amid fears he would die from eating sand.
The young bird has been feasting on up to two kilograms of high-grade salmon each day - funded through donations from the public and Wellington businessman Gareth Morgan, who chipped in with more than $NZ5000 ($3900).

 

'He is so soft' ... fan mail for Happy Feet, published on the Wellington Zoo's Facebook page.

"It's a bloody expensive bird, I can tell you that much," Dr Morgan told stuff.co.nz last week.
Happy Feet, whose stomach was pumped clean of sand, has certainly enjoyed his meals, and now weighs 24.6 kilograms, 2.6 kilograms heavier than when he was first rescued, zoo spokeswoman Kate Baker said.
"He's getting stronger and stronger every day," Ms Baker told The New Zealand Herald.

 

 An X-ray image of Happy Feet's stomach. Photo: Getty Images/Pacific Radiology

"Actually, when the vet grabs him for medication or something, he's fighting a lot more. He's really looking good."
Happy Feet - nicknamed after an American-Australian animated movie about a lost penguin - was being kept in the dark to mimic the Antarctic weather, and lived in his own air-conditioned room, zoo staff said.
Staff were also cooling down the zoo's saltwater pool to provide the lonely bird with a watery playground.
"You can compare him in his enclosure to someone in hospital in terms of boredom," Ms Baker said.

Happy Feet first came to the attention of New Zealand authorities when he was spotted on June 20 by a woman walking her dog at Peka Peka Beach near the southern tip of the North Island.
The bird appeared to have taken a wrong turn while swimming near the Antarctica and ended up stranded on the beach - the first emperor penguin to turn up in New Zealand since 1967.
His plight attracted media attention from across the world and live video footage of his activities is being streamed online by New Zealand television station TV3.

Zoo staff were hoping to return Happy Feet to Antarctic waters after he recovered.
Peter Simpson of the Penguin Advisory Committee, which was set up to determine what to do with Happy Feet, said there weren't any confirmed plans at the moment.
"We are still gathering information on potential release sites, as well as working out how to transport the penguin from Wellington down to Bluff [on the South Island's southern coast].
"It's important that the penguin is properly fattened up for the trip. He needs to be completely ready to make the long swim home."

Mr Simpson, from New Zealand's Department of Conservation, said it might be up to a month before plans to transport the penguin were finalised.
A tracking device would be placed on Happy Feet, but he would be left to fend for himself once he was released, Mr Simpson added.
"It'll be up to him at that stage - whatever it does is whatever it does."

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