Runaway penguin Humboldt who scaled 13ft wall to go on two month adventure round Toyko is returned 'safe and sound' to aquarium
A runaway penguin who spent two months on the loose after escaping from a Tokyo aquarium has been returned to his home 'safe and sound'.
The fugitive Humboldt, known only as 337, scaled a 13ft wall and slipped through a fence at the Tokyo SeaLife Park in March.
He was spotted in various parts of the Japanese capital - swimming in rivers and playing in parks - but managed to evade capture.
Missing friend: Tokyo Aquarium's penguin number 337 is back safe and sound after two months on the loose
Clever: He was spotted in various parts of the Japanese capital - swimming in rivers and playing in parks - but managed to evade capture
That was until last night, when the one-year-old was seen on a river bank, and keepers swooped in to detain him.
He is currently undergoing medical checks, but experts said he appeared to be in good health.
A SeaLife Park spokesman told the BBC: 'It hasn't lost weight. It hasn't got fatter either but its health seems good.'
Kazuhiro Sakamoto, vice-head of the aquarium, told Kyodo news agency he was 'relieved to see the penguin come back alive'.
The tubby penguin's disappearance sparked a city-wide hunt after the Park, on the shores of Tokyo Bay, was alerted to its escape after receiving a photograph supposedly showing it swimming in the bay.
Sakamoto said at the time:'We think that because of its young age, it might have escaped due to its curiosity and yearning for adventure.'
Problem: Tokyo Aquarium has seen a number of its penguins escape before
The bird, still too young for keepers to determine whether it was male or female, shared life at a rocky outdoor enclosure with a view of the sea with 135 other Humboldts and a number of penguins of other breeds.
Humboldts grow to 56-70 cm (22-28 inches) long and can weigh up to 5.9 kg (13 lbs).
Sakamoto added that, as the waters of the bay were full of fish, the penguin was unlikely to starve - but that it was also unlikely to head for Peru or Chile, the ancestral home of Humboldts.
He said: 'It's a type of penguin that tends to stay close to shore, but I also think it would not be able to cross all of that wide ocean.'
In the 2005 animated film Madagascar, penguins are among the animals that mount an escape as they are being transported.
