Happy Feet was discovered in June, wandering around on a desolate beach on the coast of New Zealand - thousands of kilometres from where any self-respecting king penguin with an operational 'GPS' system should be.
Unfortunately, being a bird of Very Little Brain, he consumed vast amounts of sand and beach debris in an attempt to feed, and was a Decidedly Lucky Chappy to have been found by a concerned local who alerted the authorities and had him picked up and transported to Wellington Zoo.His gender was eventually established, the sand and other junk was pumped out of his gut and he was rehabilitated and housed in a specially created snow and ice palace for the visitors to the zoo to enjoy until a scheduled boat was leaving for his part of the ocean on which he could hitch a ride.
The chief vet in charge of Happy Feet's rehabilitation and release is a South African lass pictured here on the boat approaching the release point. Happy Feet had been fitted with a plastic box housing a GPS system (a fully operational and confirmed to be working one) and these pictures show the guys preparing the slippery slide which was draped over the side of the boat and dipping into the welcoming waves of the ocean.
Here you can see the big 'specially designed' crate which housed Happy Feet on the journey from Wellington Zoo - and just below, you can see His Majesty - Happy Feet emerging from the crate and approaching the slippery slope to freedom.
Apparently, this penguin was not about to look too enthusiatic about being abandoned in the big ocean and it took a gentle nudge(!) to get him sliding down into the sea. The press was in attendance in vast quantities and we were treated to all the pictures on the six o'clock news (and beyond - each day a map showing the progress that Happy Feet has made towards reconnecting with his home colony way down South) - there were some moments of concern, but he seemed to be heading in the right direction as it were.
It appears that tragedy has struck - the fitted and fancy GPS in it's indestructable plastic housing, has stopped sending signals back to New Zealand and the worst is feared.
It took approximately 'five minutes' for the picture below to be flashed around most of our e-mails.
It's comforting to know that there are no polar bears in that part of the world!! We assume that there are huge, hungry sharks and other such penguin-eating fishes in that part of the world though!
Dis al!
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