A malnourished emperor penguin has been discovered thousands of miles away from its home in Antarctica, baffling wildlife experts.
The adult male, nicknamed Gus, was found on November 1 on a popular beach in the town of Denmark, south-west Australia, roughly 2,200 miles north of the icy waters off the Antarctic coast where he hails from.
The state of Western Australia’s Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions said the penguin species has never been reported in Australia before.
University of Western Australia research fellow Belinda Cannell said some had reached New Zealand, but she has ‘no idea’ why the penguin ended up in Denmark.
Ms Cannell is helping seabird rehabilitator Carol Biddulph, who is caring for the penguin by spritzing him with a chilled water mist to help him cope with his new climate.
The penguin is 3.2 feet tall and weighed 51 pounds when he was discovered. A healthy male emperor penguin can weigh more than 100 pounds.
The department said its efforts are focused on rehabilitating the penguin.
Asked if the penguin could potentially be returned to Antarctica, the department replied: ‘Options are still being worked through’.
Earlier this year, four new colonies of emperor penguins were found thanks to their telltale calling card – massive smears of poop across the glistening ice.
Scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) discovered the previously unknown breeding sites using satellites, which captured the big brown patches.
Given they live exclusively in the Antarctic, emperor penguin breeding sites are typically remote and inhospitable. This means satellite imagery is essential to discover and monitor their populations.
And thanks the brown stains of the birds’ brown guano, or seabird excrement, standing out clearly against the stark white of ice and snow, this was relatively simple to do.
However, those streaky stains also tell a worrying story.
The BAS said changing sea ice conditions along Antarctica’s coastline have forced several emperor colonies to move in search of more stable sea ice to breed on.
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