Escaped Penguin Still On The Loose

A Humboldt penguin that escaped from the Tokyo's Kasai Rinkai Aquarium back on March 4, 2012 is still on the lam.... or whatever it is that penguins are on when they flee their oppressive over-lords at a zoo in Japan.

Sighted in the Old Edogawa River, the escaped jailbird was seen swimming and playing in the water and apparently eating fish - so  not to worry! The little bugger will probably be okay. 


The one-year-old, 60 centimeter tall penguin escaped from an enclosure where it lived with 134 other Humboldt penguins after scaling a sheer rock surface about 120 centimeters high.

“It’s a bit of a struggle to catch it when it is swimming, because it swims at a tremendous speed,” said a zoo official. “We are hoping to catch it when it climbs up on land to sleep.”


So far, it has eluded capture. Japanese zoo officials and police are keeping an eye out for the fleeing felon at Narita Airport, all JR train stations, assorted ports where ships are sailing for Madagascar and, of course, tuxedo shops.

Perhaps they could use a hungry sea lion to hunt the penguin... and if that escapes, perhaps some of the Canadian seal club members could be brought into to club it to death or at least get laid in the drinking/dance club area of Shinjuku.

People are warned that while the penguin we, in this blog, are calling Stanley (thanks to Mike Rogers of Marketing Japan fame) is not considered armed or dangerous, it should be treated as such and should only be approached like one would a gaijin - by offering to buy it an alcoholic beverage in the hopes it will give you a free English lesson. 

Obviously Japan - It's A Wonderful Rife is kidding about most of this. The penguin is still on the loose and we wish it much success in its endeavors to be a free bird like in that Lynyrd Skynyrd song.

By Andrew Joseph
In the photo above, two Humboldt penguins pose for a photo while wearing rented tuxedos.