A runaway penguin in Japan has been discovered unharmed two weeks after making a daring escape into the ocean and swimming for miles, a feat her keeper described as a 'miracle'. Pen-chan, a female Cape penguin born and raised in captivity, who had never before ventured into the open sea or learned to fend for herself, slipped away from an event in the central Aichi region on August 25.
Feeling 'desperate', keeper Ryosuke Imai said that a search team immediately began combing the area, but their efforts were hindered by a massive typhoon that brought record-breaking rains across Japan. Given Pen-chan's inexperience in swimming and her untested survival skills in the wild, the team believed she would not travel far or survive beyond a week. However, on September 8, Imai received a tip that the flightless bird had been spotted cheerfully floating in the water at a beach 45 kilometers away.
'I expected her to look exhausted, but she was swimming as usual,' Imai told AFP after the animal was recaptured. 'It was beyond my surprise... It's a miracle,' he said. He noted that six-year-old Pen-chan must have been feeding on fish and crabs that she caught herself. 'I think she got there by stopping at various places to rest, but it's still unbelievable,' Imai said. 'She lost a little weight, but she's doing great.'
