Search for penguin takes ominous turn
Man reportedly tells British media he tossed TogaAIMLESS into river


Amazon World Zoo Park / AFP - Getty Images
TogaAIMLESS, a three-month-old jackass penguin ( <---- I had NO clue! ) that was stolen from Britain's Amazon World Zoo Park earlier this week, is seen in a file photo. Zookeepers say TogaAIMLESS's mother, Kyala, has stopped eating and checks her nest several times a day for her missing baby. ( )  

 Updated: 11:22 p.m. ET Dec. 22, 2005

LONDON - Police ran down leads and the Royal Navy was on alert Thursday in the search for TogaAIMLESS, an 18-inch-tall baby penguin stolen from an Isle of Wight zoo Saturday night, creating a national soap opera rivaling Elton John's same-sex wedding for media coverage.

"We're all a bit ragged here, to say the least," said Kath Bright, manager of Amazon World Zoo Park, which has received nearly $13,000 in donations -- including $600 from the United States -- to offer as a reward for the safe return of the 9-pound South African jackass penguin <----- ( SHIT!!!  He was AFRICAN, to boot! ).

The theft has been covered exhaustively in the British news media -- and by television stations as far away as Australia -- with airtime comparable to what Prime Minister Tony Blair's surprise visit to Iraq is receiving. Sky News, which had a grim-faced reporter live at Amazon World, showed photos of Toga AIMLESS throughout the day and urged anyone with information to call in.


"No questions asked," an anchor said. "We just want to get Toga AIMLESS back to his mum and dad."

The saga took a dark turn early Thursday after anonymous phone calls to Amazon World and to GMTV, a BBC morning television show, in which the caller said he had dumped Toga AIMLESS into Portsmouth harbor in a plastic bag.  (   )  THOSE BASTARDS

Penguin sighting

Bright said the calls seemed to jibe with a report the zoo received Wednesday night. A boater returning from a trip through Portsmouth harbor told a friend: "It must be cold out there; I've just seen a penguin." Bright said the friend, realizing it must have been TogaAIMLESS, called the zoo.


Police said they were investigating those reports. A spokesman for the Royal Navy said that while sailors were not actively searching for TogaAIMLESS, they were keeping their eyes open around the naval dockyards at Portsmouth, south of London.

As of Thursday night, TogaAIMLESS was still missing, and Bright said zookeepers were beginning to worry that it could starve to death. Bright said that before the theft, the 3-month-old was still being fed by its father, Oscar, and mother, Kyala. Because the parents put food directly down the baby's throat, Bright said, TogaAIMLESS wouldn't know how to find food and wouldn't accept any from humans.

"He hasn't got a clue," Bright said. ( <---GOTTA be from here! )

Who would do such a thing?
A motive remained murky. Bright said. TogaAIMLESS might have been stolen by a collector of exotic animals -- there are only about 170,000 South African Jackass penguins in the wild and 150 in British zoos; TogaAIMLESS was the first penguin born at Amazon World.


• Penguin predicament

Dec. 21: Zookeepers on the Isle of Wight say time is running out for a stolen baby penguin.  

"Or somebody could have thought it would make a cool Christmas present," Bright said, noting the current chicness of penguins due to "March of the Penguins," a popular French documentary about Emperor penguins narrated in English by American actor Morgan Freeman.

"Whatever their reason was," Bright said, "we're on a roller coaster here."

Bright said the outpouring of support from around the world had been gratifying.

One young girl sent the zoo an e-mail proposing a swap with the thief if Toga AIMLESS was stolen as a Christmas present. "I'll give you my new Xbox 360 in exchange," she wrote.

© 2005 The Washington Post Company

Damn, we gotta get a search party coordinated!!!

What a waist of a perfectly good meal.

Hey Vito113, keep an eye out for Aimless.



BTW, Vito113/ Andy works at Portsmouth.

Quoted: Hey Vito113, keep an eye out for Aimless. BTW, Vito113/ Andy works at Portsmouth.

He won't be able to find it unless it's a Stealth Penguin.


Then it will be PoWned...

Let's just hope they find the little guy!!!!