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Can penguins fly? Yes, they fly underwater!
One exception was Pico the little blue penguin … Are you intrigued?
Penguins do have wings, or are they flippers? Most people call them wings. The ‘wing’ structures of penguins evolved for swimming rather than flying in the air.
Pico the little blue penguin came to us in January 2021 from Corovets in Whangamatā as a young fledgling.
Though a little underweight, after a few days of nice, yummy fish slurry it did well, but was diagnosed with an injury in one eye (an ulcer on the cornea). The eye was treated with special eye medication provided by an avian eye specialist, but permanent blindness was the outcome after treatment didn’t make a difference.
The question now was, would little Pico do well back in the wild with one functional eye now he was putting on weight and happy swimming around in our outside pool? After several calls to experts, it was suggested Pico would be too vulnerable to predators and would not survive.
A call to Auckland Zoo elicited that they had too many little blues already. Although a new bird would go into quarantine, it would upset the existing ‘waddle’ at that stage (a waddle is a group of penguins on land, and a ‘raft’ is a group in the water).
Then after some more calls we were told that Christchurch International Antarctic Centre would welcome little blues that couldn’t live in the wild anymore for various reasons. So, how to get Pico there? Air NZ was the next call to make, and we found out they would take him to Christchurch airport in an approved certified crate.
After organising the necessary documentation with DOC, we were told by Air NZ that a pet transport company needed to be contacted to do the final transportation.
PetJet Transport in Auckland gave us a quote and we decided to go ahead. My son Johan and I drove to South Auckland PetJet Cargo to meet up with the PetJet team. We were welcomed by the whole crew, including office staff, as this was the first penguin they had ever transported! Pico was transferred into their approved crate and photographed and adored by everyone. After signing off and paying we left in faith that Pico would arrive safely.
I called the International Antarctic Centre to let them know the arrival time so someone would be waiting at the other end. All went well and Pico arrived in quarantine in Christchurch and was examined the same day by veterinary staff.
Pico’s name was selected after the public got to vote; the winner won a backstage Penguin Pass for a family to see them all in action.
Job done!
Pico needed to be handled a lot and was taught how to take fish from handlers, as well as other new adventures, as Pico would be on public display after quarantine.
Go well Pico …
Words by Annemieke Kregting
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