CANTERBURY, New Zealand — Editor's note: The penguin pictured above is a generic photo of an Adélie penguin.
One wrong turn sent this Adélie penguin on a nearly 2,000-mile voyage, according to reports.
The penguin was spotted on New Zealand's Canterbury beach on Thursday, Nov. 10, by Harry Singh, USA Today reports. He posted a video on Facebook showing the black and white bird who was not native to the area. Adélie penguins are only found along the coast of the Antarctic continent.
Experts say the penguin, affectionately named Pingu, might have been confused or lost. Ecologist David Ainley, told USA Today, that this penguin species often travels far but its unusual to find them in New Zealand.
Kaikoura Wildlife Hospital in New Zealand said the Adélie penguin was a young bird that was underweight, dehydrated and resting on the beach in a Facebook post.
"The penguin is now in care at Christchurch Penguin Rehabilitation, which is managed by Thomas and Kristina Stracke, in conjunction with the South Island Wildlife Hospital," Kaikoura Wildlife Hospital said on Facebook.
After being cared for overnight, the penguin was released back into the wild at Bank's Peninsula, New Zealand Department of Conservation said in a Facebook post.
There have been two other sightings of an Adélie penguin in New Zealand. Once an adult corpse was discovered north of the Flaxbourne River mouth in 1962 and a second time in 1993 a live penguin was found at Kaikoura.
A Facebook user asked the Department of Conservation why Pingu was released in New Zealand and not transported back to Antarctica and their response said, "there are Treaties and Agreements about taking vagrant animals like this little one to Antarctica in case pathogens are introduced," They continued, "Let's give this beautiful penguin our confidence that it will make it all the way back safely and tell its colony about the strange land up north."
