"Wayward penguin waddles into Web fame" August 05, 2011|Associated Press
WELLINGTON, New Zealand - A wayward emperor penguin dubbed Happy Feet is now a creature of the Internet age. The penguin, discovered on a New Zealand beach six weeks ago, will soon be returned to the wild - but not before he picked up an online following of more than 120,000.
That’s how many unique visitors have watched as a webcam monitors his every move. Thousands more are expected to follow the updates after he is released, with feeds from a GPS tracker attached to his back posted online.
His followers do not seem bothered that Happy Feet, nicknamed after the 2006 animated movie, does little more than eat, sleep and occasionally waddle.
The penguin was found June 20 on Peka Peka Beach, about 40 miles northwest of Wellington and far from his Antarctic feeding grounds. He was moved four days later to the Wellington Zoo after becoming ill from eating sand, which he likely mistook for snow.
He has since been given a clean bill of health to return to the ocean.
The zoo raised the $10,000 through a public campaign to cover the costs of housing Happy Feet, Baker said. It has also raised about $8,000 for returning him to the sub-Antarctic ocean south of New Zealand - which could cost up to $30,000.
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Related: Penguin Post-Op
