Heartwarming update in epic penguin journey

An emperor penguin that swam 3500 km from Antarctica to Western Australia’s southern coastline has been released back into the wild.

Gus, as he became known by his wildlife carers, was found on a Denmark beach more than 400km south of Perth on November 1.

A Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) Parks and Wildlife Service spokesman said the penguin had passed several vet checks and was released from a vessel off WA’s southern coast on Wednesday.

The spokesman said the penguin was released under the guidance of a vet, a wildlife officer and its carers Carol and Graham Biddulph.

“Carol reported the bird had gained 3.5 kgs in her care and with warmer weather on the horizon, it was time-critical to return it to the ocean where it could thermoregulate itself,” a spokesman said.

“The care, attention and efforts of Carol and Graham has given the Antarctic bird, found thousands of kilometres outside of its home range and in a different climate, a fighting chance of survival.”

Ms Biddulph, a DBCA wildlife carer, said their main concern to begin with was that the penguin was very malnourished.

“He was very thin and so we had to go through a gentle process of re-feeding him, not too fast, not too slow, just right,” she said.

“He absolutely loved his big mirror and I think that had been crucial in his wellbeing, they are sociable birds and he stood next to his mirror most of the time.

“I find for other species of penguin that I have in care, the mirror is a must have, especially when I only have one in at a time.

“When there’s two or three of them it’s great because they can bounce off each other, but when you’ve only just one, they need that comfort of knowing they’ve got a buddy.”

Ms Biddulph said she would miss Gus and it had been an incredible few weeks.

“I got into wildlife care not to have pets, not to make these birds my pets,” she said.

“I want birds to be free, and everyone that we care for that goes back to its natural environment means that we’ve done our job well.”

Ms Biddulph said they did not know how the emperor penguin arrived in Australia but she had cared for birds that had come from New Zealand or islands in the Indian Ocean.

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