Question Details

What will happen to Happy Feet, New Zealand's wayward penguin?

What will happen to Happy Feet, New Zealand's wayward penguin?

Asked by: Super Userkruijs in Science » Environment
Settled on 07/29/2011 05:40 Settled by Super Userkruijs

Predictions

Background

An Emperor penguin that washed up lost on a New Zealand beach this week was taken to Wellington Zoo Friday after its health deteriorated, wildlife experts said.

The penguin, nicknamed "Happy Feet" by locals, was found wandering on a North Island beach on Monday, more than 3,000 kilometres (1,900 miles) from its Antarctic home. The giant bird, only the second Emperor penguin ever recorded in New Zealand, initially appeared in good health.

Department of Conservation (DOC) spokesman Peter Simpson said its health took a turn for the worse early Friday. He said the penguin, which is used to sub-zero temperatures, was eating sand in an apparent bid to cool down. Emperor penguins in the Antarctic eat snow when they get too hot.

"It was eating sand and small sticks, it was standing up than lying down and attempting to regurgitate the sand," Simpson told AFP. "We had the vets and an expert from Massey (University) examine it and we've decided to take it to Wellington Zoo to see if we can find out what's wrong with it."

Simpson said if the penguin, believed to be a juvenile male, could be nursed back to health, it may be reintroduced to the sea in the hope it will swim back to Antarctica. He said the worst case scenario was euthanasia, adding "that's not one we're looking at at the moment".

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g1bjunBs5p7LTSC2MIBqR1mxjoww

Find similar: penguin, new zealand, happy feet

Comments

Comment on this question:

Sign in to comment

   Super Userkruijs

Fattened up on a diet of "fish milkshakes" and escorted by his own personal veterinary team, the world's most famous penguin, Happy Feet, sets sail Monday for the icy waters he calls home.

The emperor penguin washed up on a beach just outside the New Zealand capital Wellington in mid-June -- weak, emaciated and more than 3,000 kilometres (1,900 miles) from the Antarctic colony where he hatched about three-and-a-half years ago.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gilUBmsrzGc2c1E2WVExcHyTH6aQ

   hfl13

And the most important: Will thay make a movie ? Ooops

   bernardo

@new Q: My thought exactly. Maybe even two or three of them ;) 1: Will he make it? 2: When? 3: Where will he end up being eaten or founding a family?

   Super Usergotmick

He's been cleared to head home, but likely won't be released for a few weeks:
http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/07/29/lost-penguin-happy-feet-to-return-to-the-wild/

Funny thing is after all this trouble, he still has to swim for thousands of miles by himself to get home. Not so sure this is the happy ending everybody is so thrilled about! They will be tracking him by satellite so I don't think we've heard the end of this story. Sounds like a new Q to me!

   Super Usergotmick

Oops. To clarify I meant bernardo's post. I'd agree with you hfl13, if it were not clearly stated differently in the settlement details.

   Super Usergotmick

That's how I understand it too. Kind of an odd settlement, but it's clear and in the details all along.

   hfl13

Sorry - this is Sience not my Category General - the former post was only my opinion.

   hfl13

No news means no news at all - because option b) covers staying at the zoo. Will look into the timeline, when I settle.

   bernardo

I understood "no new news" as "stays at the zoo". Now there is news and in a timeline it could be called "new", but in fact the penguin will still stay at the zoo for a couple of weeks before being released. "It was not something that would be rushed and Happy Feet is expected to stay at the zoo until mid-late August." http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5354788/Return-trip-beckons-for-heavier-Happy-Feet

   Super UserPitchedOutsideLeg

Well, I'm still confused. What happens if new news emerges before suspension but the news isn't sufficient to settle on any of the three options?

   bernardo

ken, I feel like I stepped on your toes at some point but don't really know how that happened. An option like "other" which covers unexpected events or "no news at all" can help, but you introduced a variation where you could or did not explain what the difference is between "No" and "not by suspend date". It's just not true that you tried to explain this. And while we had to sort this out, I suspended the market so that nobody else gets in unnecessary trouble.
Just in case you feel differently: This is a non-commercial site where nobody should follow a personal agenda and everyone should be treated equally in discussions. But this only works if you take part and don't instantly act like someone emptied a bucket full of crap on your head after you were being criticised.

As for this market: It works just fine. I have been following the story over the weeks as it attracted enough media attention (at least in the kiwi-press) and the remaining question just seems to be if he is released before the suspend date or not. Example:
"Happy Feet is getting stronger and healthier by the day, gaining more weight thanks to a mighty appetite for salmon. [...]
Ms Baker said it was not known when the emperor penguin would be released into the Southern Ocean.
"It really depends on how long it takes for him to gain more weight and become healthier and fit enough to be released into the ocean." " http://www.nzherald.co.nz/environment/news/article.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10737634

   bgrigore

I have no bet in this market either. The penguin is now at Wellington Zoo. Here is the news release of the Zoo. What is nice is that they have live stream of the penguin, he can be watched 24/7 - the link can be found in the below news release.
http://www.wellingtonzoo.com/net/news/article.aspx?id=203

   cici

glad I didn't get into this battle. I found I don't have a "logical space sufficiency". Damn these Nerds!

   Super Userkruijs

ken, please read the settlement details. it states: Settles as "Recovers, but stays at the zoo" if no new news emerges before suspension.

   kenneth1

Bernado, this is a case of, in my humble opinion, of insufficient spanning the space of the "logical world" so that all conditions are met..
I had a question YES, NO or OTHER (which meant some grey reason that was not either, yes or no, and i tried to explain to you , but it wasn't good enough...)... So, we just let the question fall by the wayside...

This question , i feel, suffers from the reverse problem; namely it doesn't span the logical space sufficiently. I can envision a situation, such as i think is occuring, where we haven't seen anything beyond what was reported... so an added response of a, b, c, or OTHER would help cater to that. even if people chose not to bet on it it would NOT HURT!!! so i am going to tag this question NOW..

I loved the question, since i lived down there, but feel bad, that it might end up being canned... rather than drag on ad infiinitum..

   kenneth1

dOESN;T Disney or someone have movies out for kids with penguins being positive and that emporia's (sp?) movie , march of the empora s (penguins)... so we are trained to like penguins.... but sharks are always the villains... , so we are just stupid..

   Cheesenips

Because the penguin is cuter ;)

   bernardo

I didn't say I'm on someones side here. Let the coins fall where they may and may the bigger animal have its feast ;)

   kenneth1

bernado, why do sympathize with the Penguin, and not the shark?

   bernardo

It's probably going to end up as shark food somewhere: " “Happy” should start preparing for a long swim after an advisory group convened by the Department of Conservation (DOC) said the bird should be released into the Southern Ocean, southeast of New Zealand.
The penguin will stay at Wellington Zoo until it is deemed well enough to have a reasonable chance of survival.
The Antarctic Treaty, signed by 46 nations and enshrined in New Zealand law, stipulates that no living bird is allowed to be taken into Antarctica.
To do so would breach the treaty's protocols on environmental protection because of the risk of disease" http://www.theaustralian.com.au/travel/news/lost-penguin-happy-feet-told-to-swim-home/story-e6frg8ro-1226084251744

   Super Userkruijs

The penguin, called Happy Feet by zoo staff, has undergone a third, and possibly final, operation to remove sticks and sand it's eaten in a misguided attempt to keep itself cool.

The head of gastroenterology at Wellington Hospital, Dr John Wyeth, peformed an endoscopy, inserting a tiny camera and lasso into the penguin's stomach to remove the material.

"We've probably emptied about half the stomach and, hopefully, with a bit of luck the stomach will now start functioning of its own accord. We're talking about giving it some drugs to stimulate the stomach to empty and if that's the case we won't need to have another operation," he said.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/78637/penguin%27s-stomach-may-be-near-to-functioning-again,-says-doc

   hfl13

I really like kruijs Politics Ms ! Kudos !

   kenneth1

hi all, I lived in Wellington NZ for 5 1/2 years in the 70s, and know Wellington Zoo well...
. Nice that you saw this and made up an interesting question about it... How do you do it all?? Great job, ken

What's This!?

  • This is a user submitted question. Players make predictions on what they expect to be the actual outcome.

    more...

  • Register for free and get 1,000 KtN$
    in virtual cash to start predicting!

  • Limited offer: Sign up today and recieve double cash!

Advertisement