A small blue penguin waddled onto the runway at the Wellington National Airport in New Zealand, causing quite the scene — and flight delays — before it was rescued, according to reports.
The penguin, known locally as a kororā, was spotted by an Air Chathams pilot just before takeoff around 2 p.m. on Jan. 12, prompting airport staff to run out and grab the bird, New Zealand outlet Stuff reported.
“The pilot and passengers patiently waited while Wellington Airport staff raced out to collect and help the visitor,” the airport said in a social media post.
The runway is located right along the rocky coast of New Zealand’s capital city, according to the outlet.
Photos posted by the airport on social media Tuesday show the penguin running on the pavement.
After it was captured, photos show the disappointed-looking penguin wrapped in a towel inside of a vehicle.
Airport officials said the penguin was taken to the Wellington Zoo to recover due to the high temperatures.
“It’s a very unusual occurrence and there’s no record of a penguin visiting us like this before,” Wellington Airport’s Wildlife Officer Jack Howarth told Stuff.
The penguin is believed to have slipped underneath the fencing around the runway, prompting the airport to improve its fencing “to keep our flippered friends out of trouble in future,” the airport said.
The penguin was just six weeks old, according to a zoo spokesperson. Besides being a bit thin and hungry, the bird “was otherwise in good health,” they said.
Kororā are the world’s smallest penguin species and are typically just 10 inches tall weighing in at about 2.5 pounds, according to New Zealand’s Department of Conservation.
The penguins once populated most of New Zealand but have been largely pushed to islands off the coast due to encroaching human activity and predators.