Rare penguin rescued .. Now he's the only male of his kind in captivity..(they have "plans" for him)

[SoCalDem]

"Groucho Marx" penguin has happy feet

Reuters Photo: A Fiordland Crested Penguin lies on its back at Sydney's Taronga Zoo in this December...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070110/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_australia_penguin
By Paul Tait Wed Jan 10, 10:39 AM ET

SYDNEY (Reuters) - And he thinks he's tired now. A rare "Groucho Marx" penguin found exhausted on an Australian beach after a 2,000 km (1,240 miles) swim has been saved by Sydney zookeepers but will soon have to earn his keep by snuggling up to two lonely females of his vulnerable species.

snip...

The male penguin was found at Norah Head, a sleepy beachside hamlet about 80 km (50 miles) north of Sydney, last November, exhausted and suffering respiratory problems after his trans-Tasman trek.

The penguin nick-named "Munroe" was taken to Sydney's Taronga Zoo, where he is now the only male of his species in captivity in the world. Restored to ruddy good health after medical checks and a steady diet of pilchards, Munroe will soon be introduced to the zoo's other fiordland penguins "Chalky" and Milford", the only two females in captivity, and get down to the job at hand.

"The girls have been on their own for quite some time now," Taronga Zoo spokeswoman Danielle McGill said. According to McGill, Munroe already has happy feet at prospect of meeting his new companions. "He hasn't seen them yet but he's heard them. He's quite excited, he keeps trying to escape to get to them," she said.

snip...

The zoo's penguin keeper Mel Grainger said Chalky and Milford had appeared keen to breed, laying eggs each year and taking turns sitting on them in an attempt to incubate the infertile eggs.

snip....

There are estimated to be only 1,000 breeding pairs left in the wild.

[xchrom]

1. woo-hoo! -- have fun munroe!

[SoCalDem]

2. He probably does not even know he's the luckiest penguin in the world

Since his is an endangered species, they will be taking very good care of him, and those girls will be very friendly to him. The only problem I see is that I thought penguins were monogamous.. What devilish schemes will the un-chosen girl resort to :evilgrin:

[ceile]

3. Wow.

He's quite beautiful, isn't he? Boy, is HE gonna have fun!!!

[Mojambo]

4. Some guys have all the luck. n/t

[jpak]

5. I've seen them in Milford Sound New Zealand

(and the even more endangered yellow-eyed penguin in NZ too)

The Cresties are pretty spectacular (for penguins anyway).

[MountainLaurel]

6. We saw a yellow-eyed as well

On the eastern side of South Island, just before you get into The Catlins. It was quite the surprise, because it was at a time of day when everyone was supposed to be out to sea feeding. This guy was hanging out on the shore.

[Kerrytravelers]

7. I've been collecting penguin things for about 8 years now!

I love them!