As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Saturday 23 February 2013

Lost Antarctic Royal penguin found in New Zealand


The penguin is being treated for malnutrition and kidney failure

A royal penguin is being cared for at a New Zealand zoo after being found stranded on a beach 2,000km (1,240 miles) from its Antarctic home.

The young male bird, which was dehydrated and starving, is thought to be only the fourth royal penguin to wash up there in more than a century.

He is believed to have come from a breeding colony in the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island.
Vets said the bird, dubbed Happy Feet Jr, may have been drifting for a year.

Lisa Argilla, a vet at Wellington Zoo, said the penguin had possibly struggled to find enough food or had had problems hunting and had come ashore as he needed to go through his seasonal moulting.

He was found on Tora beach, on the coast to the south of Wellington, on Sunday.

"It's very weak, doesn't want to stand. It's making very small progress every day but it's still in critical condition," Ms Argilla told the TVNZ channel.

She told AFP his kidneys were not functioning properly, adding: "Hopefully we can reverse that, feed him up and bring him back to good health but it's touch and go at the moment."

If he recovered, she said, he would be released to make his way home.

"They're amazing at navigation so that shouldn't be a problem for him," she said.

Last year, an emperor penguin, the original Happy Feet, made headlines when he appeared on New Zealand's shores.

He had surgery to remove 3kg (6.6lb) of sand from his stomach, which he is thought to have eaten thinking it was snow, before being released with a tracking device.

But he disappeared soon after and was believed to have been eaten.



UPDATE:  No Happy ending for lost penguin
Posted 22 February 2013, 12:30 AEST

A lost penguin dubbed Happy Feet junior has died, despite intensive efforts by New Zealand vets to save him.

A penguin dubbed Happy Feet junior that washed up in New Zealand 2000 kilometres from his home has died despite intensive efforts to save him, Wellington Zoo said on Friday.

A veterinary team spent five days caring for the bird, a juvenile royal penguin which had drifted far from a breeding colony in sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island after spending an estimated 12 months at sea.

But the zoo's chief vet, Lisa Argilla, said the penguin died overnight as malnutrition and kidney failure took their toll.

"As the penguin arrived nearly three kilograms underweight, it had absolutely no reserves and subsequently we suspect that this led to multiple organ failure, following the kidney failure diagnosed on its arrival," she said.

"Wildlife medicine is a very challenging field and though we did the best we could, sadly the penguin didn't survive."

The bird's discovery revived memories of the original Happy Feet, an emperor penguin that was found stranded near Wellington in June 2011, attracting worldwide interest during an eight-week recuperation at the zoo.

A New Zealand research ship eventually released the penguin into the Southern Ocean after it received visits from celebrities such as Stephen Fry and best wishes from New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.

However, a tracking device attached to the bird stopped transmitting after a few days, sparking fears it had been eaten by a shark.




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