A baby penguin has been rescued after being spotted on a runway in New Zealand's capital last week.
One pilot was moments away from takeoff when a strange visitor – a corolla or little blue penguin – appeared on the runway at Wellington Airport on January 12.
Airport staff rushed to collect the little bird while passengers waited on the plane.
The bird is its habitat New Zealand The world's smallest penguin species has been transferred to Nest Te Kohanga at Wellington Zoo, which specializes in rehabilitating local wildlife.
The zoo said the penguin was just six weeks old when he was brought through its gates.
The typical little blue penguin is only 25cm long, weighs just over 1kg, and lives to be approximately 8-10 years old.
The center described her as hungry and somewhat underweight, but in good health.
The penguin was transferred to a rehabilitation center. Photo: Wellington Airport
The penguins live in natural nests in Lyal Bay, minutes from the airport, and the zoo said the chick “may have been lost on the way home.”
The zoo fed the penguin “lots of delicious fish” as part of a weight-gain diet, and vets examined the bird with X-rays and blood tests to ensure it was healthy.
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The little penguin is “on the road to recovery,” she said, adding that once its feathers are isolated from water, it will be released into the wild.
Meanwhile, Wellington Airport said it has installed “penguin buffer” on its fences to ensure accidental overtakes do not occur in the future.
The Auckland Zoo, which also cares for little blue penguins, said their numbers decline in areas where predators roam, while numbers are stable or rise when controls are in place.
The birds only come to the beach at night, and live underground in burrows, natural holes, or under human structures and buildings.
