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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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Forget Snakes: Penguins Get Their Plane Ride

Flightless birds fly home with a little help from Brazil

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(Newser) – The wayward penguins marooned on Brazil's beaches got a one-way ticket home over the weekend, but ferrying hundreds of birds 2,000 miles is no simple feat, explains Nina Shen Rastogi in Slate. After being fed and tagged, 399 Magellanic penguins were crated and loaded aboard an Air Force plane for a journey to southern Atlantic waters, with military personnel, veterinarians, and biologists in tow.

The trip south turned out easier than the voyage to Brazil: while hundreds washed ashore dead, all survived the journey home.  But the adventure isn't over. Officials held 100 birds back after an inspection that “involved checking their weight and the condition of their lungs, mouth, feet, and eyes as well as making sure their feather covers were still waterproof.”

A penguin swims near Praia do Forte beach, in Cabo Frio, Brazil, on July 22, 2008.
A penguin swims near Praia do Forte beach, in Cabo Frio, Brazil, on July 22, 2008.   (AP Photo)
Penguins are released at the Cassino Beach, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on Saturday.
Penguins are released at the Cassino Beach, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on Saturday.   (AP Photo)
Penguins are released at the Cassino Beach, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on Saturday.
Penguins are released at the Cassino Beach, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on Saturday.   (AP Photo)
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The largest penguin airlift ever took place in 2000, when 10,000 to 15,000 birds were transported to clean water after a massive oil spill near Cape Town, South Africa. - Nina Shen Rastogi for Slate

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