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humboldt penguin

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A one-year-old Humboldt penguin which escaped from a Tokyo aquarium has been caught after more than two months on the loose in the Japanese capital.

The Humboldt penguin scaled a wall and slipped though a fence at the Tokyo Sea Life Park in March.

It has since been spotted several times swimming in rivers running into Tokyo Bay, but had eluded keepers.

The fugitive penguin was finally recaptured on Thursday evening.

Two keepers went to a river after a sighting of the penguin was reported in the morning. They managed to catch it later that day on the river bank, a spokesman for Tokyo Sea Life Park said.

Escaped penguin 337 has since been spotted several times swimming in rivers running into Tokyo Bay, but had eluded keepers

Escaped penguin 337 has since been spotted several times swimming in rivers running into Tokyo Bay, but had eluded keepers

The penguin – known only as 337 – was being examined by experts but appeared to be in good condition.

“It hasn’t lost weight,” the spokesman said.

“It hasn’t got fatter either but its health seems good.”

After the penguin escaped, the aquarium launched an appeal for help and sent employees out searching.

On one occasion Japanese coast guards spotted the penguin and followed it but were unable to secure it.

Kazuhiro Sakamoto, vice-head of the aquarium, told Kyodo news agency he was “relieved to see the penguin come back alive”.

The penguin is one of 135 penguins at the park. Humboldt penguins breed on the Pacific coast of South America and offshore islands of Chile and Peru.

They are thought to be declining in number. One of the reasons is due to increasing water temperatures caused by the El Nino effect and reduced food supply.

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Tokyo Sea Life Park is trying to locate an escaped Humboldt penguin seen heading for Tokyo Bay.

The one-year-old penguin was spotted swimming in a river mouth in the Japanese capital.

An official from the harbor-front aquarium said the escapee penguin appeared to have scaled a wall in its bid for freedom.

The 60-centimetre long penguin hatched last January and lives with 134 penguins in an enclosure at Tokyo Sea Life Park.

“We first noticed the penguin might have fled when the director of a neighbouring zoo e-mailed us Sunday with a photo,” park official Takashi Sugino told AFP news agency.

Tokyo Sea Life Park is trying to locate an escaped Humboldt penguin seen heading for Tokyo Bay

Tokyo Sea Life Park is trying to locate an escaped Humboldt penguin seen heading for Tokyo Bay

Takashi Sugino said officials were struggling to recapture it because it swam “at a tremendous speed”.

The Humboldt penguin was snapped bathing in the mouth of the Kyu-Edo river, which runs into Tokyo Bay.

A park official said that great efforts were being made to find it – and that exactly how the penguin got out remained unclear.

Humboldt penguins breed on the Pacific coast of South America and offshore islands of Chile and Peru.

They are thought to be declining in number. One of the reasons is due to increasing water temperatures caused by the El Nino effect and reduced food supply.