Update from earlier Sept.5 Animal Tracks post: Happy Feet, a wayward penguin who captured hearts around the world when he washed up on a New Zealand beach, was fit with a tracking device before he was released into Antarctic waters. But now wildlife experts say they’ve lost the gadget’s signal, prompting fans of the beloved bird to fear the worst.
Did the adorable (if a bit confused) emperor penguin become lunch for a shark? We may never know. According to a post on Sirtrack’s web site, no signal from Happy Feet’s monitor has been received since Friday, Sept. 9., leading engineers to conclude “the satellite transmitter has detached or an unknown event has prevented Happy Feet from resurfacing.” Is Happy Feet six feet under!?
The video below may be the last we ever see of Happy Feet.
On Sept. 5, Katie Quinn wrote:
Last June, a wayward Emperor penguin from Antarctica was found many miles from home, in New Zealand. The penguin, dubbed "Happy Feet," was released yesterday after rehabilitation. As you can see in the video, he seemed reluctant to dive back into the wild, but fitted with a GPS tracker, Happy Feet's whereabouts will be posted online as he makes the journey home.