When a 1-year-old Humboldt penguin that escaped from a Tokyo aquarium three months ago dared to set foot on land in Ichikawa on Thursday night, it was captured by hand and finally collared, The Japan Times reported.
An aquarium employee was walking alongside the Edogawa River in Chiba Prefecture at 5:30 p.m. and spotted the fugitive penguin, which escaped in March.
The penguin was seen swimming in the river near the Kanamachi water purification plant in Katsushika Ward earlier in the week. Last week, people also saw it thriving and snacking on small fish in Tokyo Bay. It was assumed that the bird was finding some place to rest onshore at night.
The fugitive bird, known as Penguin 337, somehow scaled a 13-foot wall and got through a barbed-wire fence to get into the bay. Aquarium officials believe it escaped through small gaps that cats and frogs can pass through.
Officials from Tokyo Sea Life Park feared the penguin would not survive in the waters of the bay, busy with marine traffic headed for densely populated Tokyo.
"It didn't look like it has gotten thinner over the past two months, or been without food. It doesn't seem to be any weaker. So it looks as if it's been living quite happily in the middle of Tokyo Bay," Kazuhiro Sakamoto, deputy director of the park, told Reuters.
The penguin was filmed by a Japanese coast guard patrol craft on May 7, but the crew was unable to catch it then.
Penguin 337 is one of 135 penguins at Tokyo Sea Life Park.
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free 337
!!!
The penguin proved that the "experts" were wrong after staging its apparently-daring escape from confinement. It should have been left to live as it apparently wished.
Agreed
I think the Coast Guard must have been secretly harboring the penguin.
Release my client!
Your client murdered my clients sir!
Caught by Batman of course!!
Go! Bird! Go!
I'm surprised they didn't bleed it out and eat it!. First course Dolphin, second course penguin.
Poor little guy, just wanted to be free and apparently was enjoying himself. Such a shame that this creature be jailed for the rest of his life and he has committed no crime.
He just wanted a bit of the good life...sorry little fella.
I could understand recapturing him/her if it was starving or suffering but the article clearly states he hadn't lost weight and was making a living.I was kinda hoping he would bust his buddies out and they all live happily ever after.I wonder what reason is behind returning him? Could he not survive winter? Are penguins so social that he couldn't survive solo? Whatever the reason or reasons, I hope it was to serve the interest of the penguin and not ours. Intrepid little guy!(
Put the little booger in chains! Hard labor.
And lots of raw herring.
"Penguin 337." Come on, this adventurous little pirate deserves a NAME! How about "Jack Sparrow"?
He was headed to a foreign embassy to ask for asylum.
Penguin 337 is one of 135 penguins at Tokyo Sea Life Park. I want to know what happened to the other 202!
*** FREE Penguin 337 ***