Escaped Penguin Ends Up in Lion Enclosure

from Der Spiegel:





A little penguin intent on seeing the world strolled out of her ice-covered pool and ended up in the lion enclosure of the Münster Zoo in western Germany. Zookeepers armed with herrings tried to rescue her in a race against time, as the big cats dozed nearby.

An adventurous penguin that had escaped from its pool at a German zoo took a wrong turn and ended up in the lion enclosure, the zoo in the western city of Münster said on Monday.

A visitor spotted the three-month-old bird, the zoo's youngest African Penguin, strolling up and down the ice-covered moat alongside the enclosure on New Year's Day, blissfully unaware of the proximity of a pride of lions.

"Luckily the family of lions didn't pose a threat because they were dozing in the warmth of their house," the zoo said in a statement. But the penguin was still in danger because she could have panicked and slipped under the ice.

A zookeeper managed to lure the penguin out a day later with a trail of herrings. The adventure prompted the zoo to name the bird "Leona" in a departure from its practice of just assigning numbers to its penguins.


http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,737560,00.html

"what the hell is that thing? It kind of looks like a bird but no it can't be" lol

And lucky... :scared:

"Smile and wave."

One of my favorite toons actually.

That said, I'm glad the little wanderer made it back.

they should have named it Tennessee Tuxedo

They probably had the same feeling we had when we were newly-married and lived in a high-rise in downtown Newport News next to the shipyard. We had a kitty who escaped onto the balcony some 20 floors up and jumped up onto the bannister to get a better look around. I quietly stood there with the best smelling cat food, calling "Here, Kitty Kitty" as quietly and sweetly as to not scare him. My heart was racing, but thankfully he jumped down for the food. THAT never happened again!