The Tokyo Sea Life Park, a few months back, noted the absence of one of its residents – Penguin 337.
Discovered to have been missing since March, video footage of a penguin with uncanny resemblance to Penguin 337 recently surfaced, leading the harborside aquarium’s officers and staff convinced that Penguin 337 is doing fine out in the “wild”.
A year old Humboldt Penguin at the time, Penguin 337’s escape two months ago involved scaling a 13 foot rock wall and some squeezing through barbed wire fences. “Flying out of the coop”, the bird’s prospects were narrowed down to the new life it could lead in the Tokyo Bay area.
"You can see it's got the same ring around its flipper and identical facial patterns," shares Kazuhiro Sakamoto, Deputy Director, Tokyo Sea Life Park
"It didn't look like it had got thinner over the past two months, or been without food. It didn't seem to be any weaker. So it looks as if it has been living quite happily in the middle of Tokyo Bay."
Waterpark staff are convinced that Penguin 337 has been "gorging on small fish in the bay during daylight hours and returning to the shore at night to rest."
No reports on an ongoing operation to catch Penguin 337 has been noted, but given the risks and dangers to be encountered by a Penguin in Tokyo Bay, there’s a big chance one may be on its way.
For now, the video reassures waterpark staff that Penguin 337 is doing very well in the wild, and that its sense of adventure hasn’t led it to pitfalls of danger and risks to its life.
