The female Cape penguin, “Pen-chan,” had been raised in captivity and had never before swam in the open sea.
Tokyo:
A runaway penguin in Japan has been found safe two weeks after escaping into the ocean and swimming miles, in what zookeepers are calling a “miracle.”
Pen-chan, a female Cape penguin who was born and raised in captivity and has never swam in the open sea or survived on her own, escaped from an event in central Aichi Prefecture on August 25th.
Zookeeper Ryosuke Imai said he felt “hopeless” and his team immediately began searching the area, but the search was hampered by a powerful typhoon that brought record rainfall across Japan.
Because Pen-chan cannot swim and has limited survival skills in the wild, the team suspected he would not be able to travel far or survive for more than a week.
But to his surprise, on September 8, Imai received a tip that the flightless bird had been spotted floating blissfully on the water's surface off a coast 30 miles (45 kilometers) away.
“I thought it looked exhausted, but it was swimming as usual,” Imai told AFP after the animal was recaptured.
“It was beyond amazing… it was a miracle,” he said.
Six-year-old Pen-chan must have been eating the fish and crabs that he caught himself.
Imai said, “I think they took breaks at various places on the way, but it's unbelievable.”
“She's lost a little weight but she's doing well.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
