Scientists have lost track of the New Zealand celebrity penguin, "Happy Feet." They believe the transmitter he was wearing may have fallen off or he met his fate with a predator after being released into the Southern Ocean to find his way home to Antarctica.

Nothing has been heard for several days from the young Emperor penguin released last week. Nicknamed "Happy Feet" by locals, he was released into the Southern Ocean on September 4th from a New Zealand research ship and was tracked since then by means of a GPS transmitter that showed it heading southeast.

But a wildlife tracking firm that had been following Happy Feet says no transmissions have been received since September 9th.

The bird became the focus of the media after it turned up on a beach some 4,000 kilometers from its home,only the second Emperor penguin known to have shown up in New Zealand.

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