The Humboldt penguin that had escaped from the Tokyo Sea Life Park and spent over 80 days on the run seems to have brought a case of conjunctivitis back with it after it was captured last week. In other words, veterinarians diagnosed “number 337″ with having pink-eye. After it was caught by two aquatic park keepers, the penguin was brought back and, except for the eye infection, was given a clean bill of health.
The world-famous penguin is now receiving eye-drops and seems to recovering, aquarium officials have stated. Previously the eye determined to be swelling, but after only a few days of treatment, they expect a full recovery. Officials say that since all the aquarium’s water is filtered and sterilized, for the time being they are keeping the penguin under quarantine. They speculate that the bird caught the disease from swimming in the Tokyo Bay, where the water quality isn’t as high.
After the news that the penguin had managed to escape capture by both aquarium staff and the coast guard made headlines, number 337 now has a worldwide following of fans. There were over 30 sightings reported by Tokyo Bay onlookers over the period the penguin was missing. The aquarium officials believe it survived by eating fish in the bay and sleeping on the shores at night.