This flightless bird wanted to fly.
A small blue penguin waddled onto the runway at New Zealand's Wellington International Airport, causing a fuss and flight delays before it was rescued, according to reports.
The penguin, known locally as Korora, was spotted by an Air Chathams pilot just before takeoff at around 2pm on January 12, and airport staff jumped out to capture the bird. Reported by New Zealand outlet staff.
“Pilots and passengers waited patiently as Wellington Airport staff went to pick up and assist visitors,” the airport said. said in a social media post..
The airstrip is located along the rocky coast of New Zealand's capital, the paper said.
A photo posted by the airport on social media on Tuesday shows a penguin running along a sidewalk.
Photos taken after the penguin's capture show it wrapped in a towel in a car, looking disappointed.
Airport officials said the penguin was taken to Wellington Zoo to recover due to high temperatures.
“This is a very unusual event and there has never been a record of a penguin visiting us like this,” Wellington Airport wildlife officer Jack Howarth told Stuff.
The penguin is believed to have slipped under the fence around the runway, and the airport said it has urged improvements to be made to the fence “to protect our tipped friends from getting into trouble in the future.”
A zoo spokesperson said the penguin was six weeks old. Other than being a little thin and hungry, the bird was “otherwise in good health,” they said.
Korora is the world's smallest penguin species, typically only 10 inches long and weighing about 2.5 pounds. According to the New Zealand Department of Conservation.
Penguins once lived across much of New Zealand, but human activity and the introduction of predators have driven most of them to islands off the coast.
