Antarctic penguin found in Wellington last month heads home

It's a tale that's captured the hearts of Wellingtonians - a lost Antarctic penguin, too hot and too far from home.

However, the little black and white Adélie, which turned up on Petone Beach last month suffering from heat stress, was now successfully swimming its way south (hopefully).

Department of Conservation and Wellington Zoo staff released the bird from the Lady Elizabeth IV police launch in Cook Strait yesterday.

A video shows the Adélie leaping - as if from an ice shelf - from its cage and into the water, before quickly disappearing.

Zoo staff, who have been caring for the bird, said she "took off in the right direction straight away, ready to make a dent in her journey back home to Antarctica" - about 3000km away.

The release was the second effort to liberate the bird. A recent attempt on Wellington's south coast was abandoned when she began to overheat.

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