Photo: wikimedia
You see a lot of crazy things when walking the city streets, but when was the last time you saw a penguin stroll leisurely by?
According to a BBC news report, a group of pranksters somehow managed to kidnap Humboldt penguin "Kelli" from the Dublin Zoo on July 8th. Apparently, they made off in a taxi around 8am with the penguin concealed in a bag.
Photo: Informatique
Of course, zoo staff was not amused at all with the prank. They found Kelli several hours after she left for her big city adventure, nonchalantly wandering the streets. A spokeswoman says they are relieved to have her safely back at the zoo.
As peculiar as it is that no one noticed a group of men smuggling a bagged penguin into a cab or reported one waddling around the Irish Republic's capital for hours; at least we know Kelli got to enjoy a little big city tourism this summer.
Photo: Informatique
There also happens to be an urban legend that has been around for at least a decade about a penguin kidnapping like the one that recently took place. The urban legend states that a young boy sneaks a penguin home from a public zoo in a bag.
In fact, in November 2005, a press conference had to be held at Boston's New England Aquarium to dispute rumors fueled by the legend. According to Aquarium spokesman Tony Lacasse, he had received hundreds of emails and phone calls about the alleged penguin theft from all around the country. According to the same article from about.urbanlegends.com, he even concluded the conference by labeling the tale "a 100 percent certifiable urban legend."
Photo: Informantique
Ironically, a bit later the same year, a penguin was successfully stolen from the Amazon World Zoo Park on Britain's Isle of Wright. Toga, an 18-inch-tall South African jackass penguin baby, was not as lucky as Kelli. He was never found. Urban legend or childish prank, as silly as seeing a penguin on a busy city street is, endangering their safety for a laugh is anything but funny.
Photo: wikimedia.org
According to a statement made by Katherine Bright, manager of Amazon World Zoo Park on the Isle of Wight in an interview from NPR radio,
the missing penguin's parents did not take their child's disappearance well. "They're moping around a little bit. They're checking out the other nest boxes that we have in the enclosure. They're also a lot more vocal than normal." Considering how similar a penguin's family structure is to ours, this is no surprise; just more proof that this urban legend turned prank is actually much more stupid than silly.
Photo: http://www.loe.org
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