A penguin has been found on the coast of New Zealand, at least 3,000 kilometers away from its natural habitat in Antarctica.
The Adélie penguin, affectionately renamed Pingu by the locals, was found lost on the coast by Harry Singh, a resident of the area, who said he initially thought it was a "stuffed animal".
He and his wife saw the penguin as they were strolling after a long day of work on the beach at Birdlings Flat, a settlement south of the city of Christchurch.
"At first I thought it was a stuffed animal, suddenly it moved its head, so I knew it was real," Singh told the BBC.
"He didn't move for an hour and looked exhausted," he added.
Fearing that he would become a potential target for other predatory animals roaming the beach, Singh contacted Thomas Stracke who has been saving penguins on New Zealand's South Island for 10 years, and Pingu was rescued.
Stracke himself was shocked to discover that the penguin was from Adélie, a species that lives exclusively on the Antarctic Peninsula.
