Posted on 12/26/2005 3:45:19 PM PST by presidio9
LONDON, Dec. 22 -- Police ran down leads and the Royal Navy was on alert Thursday in the search for Toga, 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.
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 throughout the day and urged anyone with information to call in.
"No questions asked," an anchor said. "We just want to get Toga 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 into Portsmouth harbor in a plastic bag.
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 Toga, 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 Toga, they were keeping their eyes open
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Toga ping
"Toga! Toga! Toga!"
Toga ... toga ... toga ... toga ...
Otherwise known as the Nelson Mandela Penguin.
Any chance the penguin became Christmas dinner? How do those things taste, anyway?
LOL!! I was waiting for it!!!!
But, seriously, that's really what it is called?!?! South Africa has penguins and they call them jackasses?!?!?! Priceless.
It's a classic. An APB out for a "jackass".
I think I saw a bald eagle fly off with it.
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