Escaped penguin doing well after 12-kilometer journey from aviary

A Humboldt penguin managed to sneak out of an Alphen aan den Rijn aviary on Friday, swimming south along the Oude Rijn river, surprising people in several Zuid-Holland towns while eluding capture until well into the Saturday evening.

He was eventually caught in Bodegraven about 12 kilometers down river from the Avifauna bird park. He had already been spotted in Nieuwveen on Friday, and in Zwammerdam on Saturday morning, but the elusive bird kept slipping away.

“Penguins can swim incredibly fast (up to 50 km per hour) and run well,” the aviary said on social media. Later, Avifauna stated that “thanks to your tips, we managed to find him in Bodegraven.”

“That is quite a distance,” an Avifauna spokesperson told Omroep West. He was going to be examined to make sure he was in good condition, “but he seems to have survived the adventure well,” the aviary’s communications team said.

He was expected to rejoin the other 30 penguins at the aviary.

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