Down Under stupidity. Fuck we are good at it.

I am astonished at the on going idiocy that New Zealand has collectively engaged in over the last couple of weeks regarding a visit from a mate from the extreme south .  Let me recap, Happy Feet turned up having made a trip from the Antarctic and we all sat on our hands and did nothing. In fact it was worse than that residents had to protect him / her from drunk youths and dogs. The Department of Conservation ( DOC ) then decided to actually do something and assigned him a security guard and exclusion zone and went into consultation on what to do next. Make no mistake the vast majority of kiwis were saying take the penguin into captivity. That would have required a decision something government departments  try to avoid at all costs.

After hanging around on the beach for five days Happy Feet  started eating snow sand and fish sticks,  that forced DOC to act, or more likely the Minister of Conservation who clicked that a dead penguin probably wasn't a great look  a few months out from an election. Happy Feet was relocated to Wellington Zoo, had a stomach pump / flush and to be fair to the team involved in was well looked after.

Then we have today's announcements. From the formidable Stuff our largest News paper group  


The emperor penguin who was found thousands of kilometres from home at a Kapiti Coast beach is set to be released into the Southern Ocean to fend for itself, when it regathers its strength.

The Antarctic bird, dubbed Happy Feet, has been in surgery at Wellington Zoo after it became seriously ill from eating sand and sticks on Peka Peka beach.

The penguin advisory committee this morning decided the preferred option would be to release Happy Feet into the Southern Ocean, rather than transporting it to Antarctica.

This is the northern edge of the known range of juvenile emperor penguins.

WTF I don't get this at all. It sounds good but then we get this.

" Though the emperor penguin is native to the continent, taking him back there would breach the treaty's protocols on environmental protection because of the risk of disease, Antarctica New Zealand science manager Ed Butler says.

Micro-organisms picked up on the penguin's 4000-kilometre swim to New Zealand or while on our shores could cause Happy Feet to become sick months down the track.

"Even if we screened Happy Feet, we still couldn't be sure that he wouldn't be carrying something that would turn up in blisters and sores in six months' time and kill all his mates," Butler said.

Agriculture and Forestry Ministry research shows a suspected virus that struck a colony of Adele penguins in Antarctica in 1972 killed 65 per cent of baby penguins in the colony of thousands.

"There are 150,000 breeding pairs in some colonies, and 65 per cent of that is a big number," Butler said. "That's a lot of dead penguins for one penguin."

Now if you are going to put Happy feet back within the range of other juvinile emperor peguins then I am guessing he could infect  them so won't only potentially kill  "...all his mate's ..." but presumably all emperor penguin colonies. I note with some amusement that Happy Feet has by swimming to New Zealand caused huge international legal problems.


" RETURNING PENGUIN 'ILLEGAL'

The Antarctic Treaty, signed by 46 nations and enshrined in New Zealand law, stipulates that no living bird is allowed to be taken into Antarctica.

Though the emperor penguin is native to the continent, taking him back there would breach the treaty's protocols on environmental protection because of the risk of disease, Antarctica New Zealand science manager Ed Butler says. "

As a New Zealand blogger noted today what country would take us ( NZ ) to the International Court over this ?

Look Happy Feet is a bird, emperor penguins are held in captivity in the USA that is the sensible solution for Happy Feet. I would love to have Happy Feet in a controlled environment in New Zealand but it is not a great option he / she needs to be around friends, far better to send him to the USA and a controlled environment.