If i wasn't going to Canada on Friday - I might pop to NZ!
Colin Miskelly, from New Zealand's national museum, said it was exceptional to
find an emperor penguin so far away from its usual habitat.
A young emperor penguin, normally found in the Antarctic, has turned up on a
New Zealand beach.It is a rare event, the first confirmed sighting of an
Emperor penguin in New Zealand in 44 years."I saw this glistening white thing
standing up and I thought I was seeing things," said Christine Wilton, who
found it while walking her dog.The department of conservation is baffled by how
it arrived, saying it may have taken a wrong turn."It's amazing to see one of
these penguins on the Kapiti coast," says the department's Peter Simpson.The
visitor has attracted crowds of onlookers, who are being advised not to disturb
the penguin and keep their dogs on leads.Conservation experts say the bird is a
juvenile, about 10 months old and 32in (80cm) tall.Emperor penguins are the
tallest and largest of all penguin species, growing up to 4ft (122cm) high and
weighing more than 75lb (34kg).Colin Miskelly, a penguin expert at Te Papa, New
Zealand's national museum, said the bird was likely born
during the last Antarctic winter.It may have been searching for squid and
krill when it took a wrong turn and arrived on New Zealand's North
Island."Usually they stay among the pack ice," said Mr Miskelly."This one just
kept going north and it's a very long way from its usual range."
Rob Morris
Brisbane, Australia
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