A king penguin has been discovered on a beach near Esperance, 4000km from its sub-Antarctic home.
The penguin could have been swimming through complex ocean currents for up to two months before it was spotted on the shores of Quagi Beach by campers in early March.
The campers recognised the bird was a king penguin far from home and contacted wildlife rescuer Lori-Ann Shibish at Esperance Wildlife Hospital.
Ms Shibish said she assumed the penguin would be a little penguin, a breed more common to the area.
“Little penguins breed here on the islands of the archipelago and that’s what we usually encounter when people say that there’s a penguin on the beach,” she said.
Camera IconHope, the king penguin on Quagi Beach Credit: Supplied
The campers sent a photo to Ms Shibish, who was shocked to see it really was a king penguin.
“King penguins inhabit the sub-Antarctic islands, and they will swim for hundreds and up to thousands of kilometres in search of food and then return back to the islands,” Ms Shibish said.
“For some reason, this penguin was just swimming and swimming and then was too far away from the islands.”
The non-native bird triggered a strong biosecurity response, especially after the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu was confirmed for the first time on Heard Island — a sub-Antarctic Australian territory — late last year.
Ms Shibish said Heard Island and Macquarie Island were primary habitats for king penguins and both had been contaminated with bird flu.
Camera IconLori-Ann Shibish with king penguin in care at Esperance Wildlife Hospital. Credit: Supplied
“Those would be the closest land places to the south coast that this bird would have come from,” she said.
The last time a king penguin was seen on the Australian mainland was in Esperance in 2021, making this a rare occurrence.
Ms Shibish safely secured the penguin using a specialised avian influenza grab kit from Murdoch University, and the bird was taken to the wildlife hospital’s quarantine pen.
Laboratory analysis of swabs and blood sampled confirmed the penguin was free of both H5N1 and Newcastle disease, and the wildlife hospital was able to shift their focus to rehabilitating the bird.
The penguin had come to shore to undergo a month-long catastrophic moult — the term used when a seabird sheds all its feathers and grows new ones.
Ms Shibish said the penguin had just started its moult when it was found on the beach and would have been especially vulnerable to predators.
“Had it just been left on the beach, it would have been killed within a day or two by feral animals because it couldn’t go back in the water,” she said.
She said birds were usually at their heaviest when they begin their moult because they were not able to enter the water to feed, but this penguin was underweight.
Camera IconHope, the king penguin. Credit: Supplied
“This bird only weighs 10kg when it should be 16, so already it’s in a compromised state,” she said.
“Having to stand there for a month with no feed and lose more weight was going to be a real risk to its health.”
The penguin is currently eating 1kg of fish a day in care at the wildlife hospital.
“She must gain six kilos and finish her moult before we can put her back into the sea,” Ms Shibish said.
“By the time she has finished her moult and has waterproofed her feathers, she will have optimum weight to be able to have the energy to swim back home.”
The penguin has been affectionately named Hope, inspired by a positive expectation or anticipation rather than a wish.
“This penguin has come here at this time to provide everyone with that little bit of a distraction and to remind everybody that that hope is out there,” she said.
“In today’s world of unrest, everyone needs a little hope in their lives and that’s what she’s been to us.”
Once Hope is full, feathered and ready to go, the hospital will release her as close as possible to where she was found on Quagi Beach in the hope she will find her way home.
Ms Shibish said the story was a good reminder to the public to keep a distance from any out-of-place wildlife and report sightings immediately.