A rare penguin that turned up on a Dunedin beach last month is getting ready to head back home to Antarctica.
The Dunedin Wildlife Hospital and the Department of Conservation are currently working on a release plan for the Adélie penguin to give her "the best chance to head back home to Antarctica".
The Antarctic Treaty requires that penguins find their own way home.
Staff at the wildlife hospital said they believed the unnamed penguin is a female, based on her bill and foot measurements.
She has had a full health check and has been receiving treatment to protect her from contracting any New Zealand diseases and prevent her from spreading Antarctic diseases to endangered Hoiho and other native penguins.
Nurses at the hospital have been making mini icebergs for the penguin, as they are adapted to much colder environments than can be provided outdoors in Dunedin. She has been staying in a "very cool, air-conditioned isolation ward".
Hospital staff compared the penguin to a "Tasmanian devil" in a social media post.
"Personality wise, this feisty minx has some serious attitude, as do all Adélie penguins!
"She is not overly fond of human presence but also doesn't display a flight response, rather she chooses to fight and will often charge our team while yelling what we can only imagine are expletives in penguin."
Adélie penguins are not endangered but are hugely impacted by climate change.
Numbers are declining due to melting sea-ice caused by warming oceans.
SHARE ME