An enterprising penguin which escaped from the Avifauna bird park in Alphen aan den Rijn has been caught in water near the village of Bodegraven, some 11 kilometres away.

The bird, a young male, is one of 30 Humboldt penguins living at the zoo and officials say they have no idea how he escaped.

‘He has been caught wandering round the park a couple of times, and now he appears to have gotten out altogether,’ a spokeswoman told local broadcaster Omroep West. ‘It is actually pretty impressive.’

The bird was checked over by vets and was found to be in perfect health, before being placed back in the colony.

Several people had contacted the zoo to say they had spotted the penguin swimming along before he was finally caught.

 

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De pinguïn 🐧 hield iedereen lekker bezig vandaag! Maar dankzij jullie tips wisten we hem te vinden in Bodegraven. Momenteel wordt hij onderzocht, maar hij lijkt het avontuur goed doorstaan te hebben. Bedankt iedereen! #humboldtpinguin #lekkerzwemmen #avifauna #vogelpark #veiligterugthuis

A post shared by Dierentuin (@vogelparkavifauna) on Aug 8, 2020 at 10:55am PDT