-
Happy Feet recovering in his special ice box at Wellington Zoo - Source: Supplied -
Related
Happy Feet was far from his natural predator's habitat when contact was lost with him, a Massey University researcher says.
A transmitter was glued on to the Emperor penguin before his
release into the Southern Ocean on September 4 -
watch the video here
But contact was lost with the celebrity emperor penguin on Friday,
when his transmitter stopped relaying information about his
location.
Associate Professor John Cockrem, from the Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, said he thinks it is highly likely Happy Feet is still alive.
"Of the natural predators, leopard seals would be far further south, around the Antarctic continent, at this time," Cockrem said.
"I also think the chances of meeting an orca are pretty small."
Cockrem said it was most likely the transmitter had fallen off, which the company behind the transmitter also said was the most likely explanation for the loss in contact.
Kevin Lay from transmitter company Sirtrack said last night: "To be uninvasive, we only glued it on so that it would fall off."
"We hoped it would stay on for five or six months, but it appears in this case it's only stayed on for two weeks."
Lay said another possibility was that Happy Feet was underwater when the satellites were overhead.
Latest NZ News Video
-
ONE News Minute 9am update: May 26 (1:00)
-
Kids cough up $14m for Government (1:50)
-
Education ministry 'barbaric' (1:55)
