Baby penguin stolen

First, it was just a wonderful, heart-warming documentary about the extraordinary life of the Emperor penguins of Antarctica.

Then The March of the Penguins led to a boom in 'penguin' watching tourist trips to their frozen homeland.

Now the film by naturalist Luc Jacquet has been linked to quite possibly the first case of 'penguin-theft'.

Toga, a rare three-and-half-month old baby Jackass Penguin, is missing, believed stolen from his home in a zoo on the Isle of Wight.

Because Toga is still reliant on mother Kyala for his daily diet of regurgitated fish, he may die if not reunited with her by Christmas.

Meanwhile Kyala and her mate, Oscar, unable to comprehend what has happened to their offspring, are restlessly trundling around their enclosure, going in and out of other nestboxes in a vain search for Toga.

Toga, born in September and weighing 8.5lb, appears to have been stolen during Saturday night by a thief who scaled two fences and broke through a hedge to enter the penguin enclosure at Amazon World, near Sandown.

His absence was first noticed on Sunday morning and although staff believed he has simply escaped into the zoo area, he could not be found.

Then staff spotted a hole in the hedge which is assumed to have been the way the thief made their way in; the local police agreed.

Derek Curtis, the owner, said yesterday: "Both the zoo and his parents are devastated by Toga's theft.

We think this was prompted by the film The March of the Penguins.

Someone has seen the film and decided that a baby penguin would be a great thing to give to his girlfriend or kids for Christmas.

But they really do not know what they are doing - Toga will die if his mother doesn't feed him." Penguins also like cool temperatures and need regular access to fresh water.

He added: "Whoever has taken him can't really keep it a secret for long and so someone will know of his whereabouts. He will be recognised.

We just want him back as soon as possible, but my worry is that he will already have been taken off the island."

Toga was the first offspring of the three pairs of Jackass Penguins kept by the zoo with the aim of encouraging breeding before returning them to their native home on islands off the South Africa coast.

They are the only native African penguins and, with only 170,000 breeding pairs are listed as 'vulnerable' by The World Conservation Society.

One clue which might help identify Toga is his distinctive cry - Jackasses are so-called because they sound like a donkey.

Added Mr Curtis: "Toga is particularly vocal and so if anybody comes across a penguin that sounds like a donkey, its bound to be him..."

- INDEPENDENT