By Liam Gilroy
The bird that has caught the imagination of New Zealand and the world has been released back into the sea and is heading back home to Antarctica and his friends.
The 3 ½ year old Emperor penguin was released on the 4th of September after being found washed up on Peka Peka Beach, on the Kapiti coast.
Happy Feet had to undergo four operations to remove the stones from his stomach and had to have many more stomach washes to remove the sand that he had eaten having mistaken it as snow.
This was the first time in 44 years that a wild emperor penguin had been spotted in New Zealand alive.
Happy Feet was released off the research vessel Tangaroa. The boat was being tossed around in swells that were over 7 metres high. Although the waves were big, Happy Feet’s release went smoothly - except for one thing, Happy Feet didn’t want to go.
After he got let out of his crate he stood there, not knowing what to do. Until Lisa Argilla, a vet for the Wellington Zoo, gave him a little poke down the specially made canvas slide which the crew on board the Tangaroa had already soaked with water.
Happy Feet went down on his back and dived into the water, gave one more look at the crew, reporters and the people who cared for him and swam away, once again in his element.
Lisa Argilla later said that “I was really happy to see him go, that’s the best part of my job, I get to see the animals I’ve cared for be set free.”
