Captive penguin

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32540, 25 February 1971, Page 10

Captive penguin

Sir, —It seems impossible that a wildlife ranger, an official of the Department of Internal Affairs, and finally the police, were unable to take possession of a totally protected bird which was being badly treated by the crew of a foreign ship; and yet it apparently happened at Lyttelton. Your report of the incident said that the Japanese crew promised to release the penguin at sea; but if they intended to do that, would not they have let the officials take it there and then? I am sure other people will agree with me that something more should have been done to get possession of the penguin, and that a great weakness was shown by the New Zealand officials concerned.—Yours, etc., J. F. JONES. February 24, 1971.

Sir,—l saw the incident at Lyttelton when a penguin was subjected to great cruelty by Japanese seamen

and also I bear witness to the determined but unsuccessful attempts of the ranger to recover it. I only hope that in the future these seamen will be subjected to the same laws as we are, and that action of a much stronger line will be taken. I never realised that we had such a naive police force as to, believe that this bird would be released at sea. Why was it captured in the first place?—Yours, etc., S.H. February 24, 1971.