Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri)

Happy Feet has made a friend in Bluebird.

Bluebird, famous for its chip-eating, dancing penguin advertisements, has set up The Happy Feet Appeal to help keep the emperor penguin fed and cared for.

Until November, Bluebird will donate 5 cents from every packet of Kiwi As 150g chips sold to the appeal. The company expects around 400,000 packets of the chips to be sold between now and November.

Proceeds from the sales will go towards food for the popular penguin, with any excess going towards other penguin initiatives at the zoo.

Bluebird managing director Gerard Smith was excited about the chance to help the emperor penguin.

"Penguins are close to our heart so naturally weve been following this story closely," Smith said.

"We're happy we can do our part in helping Happy Feet return to the ocean and also support treatment for other penguins at Wellington Zoo.''

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At least $30,000 has been spent saving Happy Feet the penguin at a time when conservation budgets for safeguarding other wildlife are being slashed.

But the bird has provided priceless publicity for wildlife in general, says Forest and Bird.

Happy Feet, an emperor penguin from Antarctica, was found on a Kapiti Coast beach north of Wellington in June and, according to figures obtained through the Official Information Act, Wellington Zoo estimates it has cost in excess of $30,000 for numerous operations to remove sticks and sand from his stomach, as well as rehabilitating him for a return to the wild.

The Department of Conservation (DoC) has not released how much it spent on looking after the penguin while it was on the beach and then transported to Wellington.

The department is planning to return him to the sea in August from a boat off the Bluff coast.

Forest and Bird advocacy manager Kevin Hackwell said $30,0000 may seem like a lot of money when seen against the backdrop of DoC redundancies. The department announced in June it would be cutting 100 jobs across the organisation.

"The Department of Conservation has had its budget slashed by the government and it's laying off staff so having to spend significant sums of money looking after this one bird compared to other birds, and other things – you can ask those questions."

He said Wellington Zoo and DoC were "damned if they do and damned if they don't. They certainly would have been criticised if they hadn't helped."

Hackwell said while $30,000 was a lot to spend on the care of a wayward bird, the publicity around Happy Feet had heightened publicity around birds and wildlife in New Zealand in general.

"I wouldn't begrudge Happy Feet his $30,000 because it has created an opportunity to talk.

"It might make people think about the wildlife that's around us all the time rather than what turns up once a century."

Happy Feet is the first known emperor penguin to swim the more than 3000km to New Zealand from Antarctica in 44 years.

"It's a neat animal and it is pretty exciting that it turned up here and people were able to do something about it. People get really excited about a bird way out of place and naturally they are sympathetic and want to do something to help," Hackwell said.

For Wellington Zoo, any cost will likely be offset by the crowds the penguin has been pulling in. Visitor numbers have increased by about 50% compared to the same time last year.

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It will cost an estimated $30,000 to return Happy Feet the emperor penguin to the wild, Wellington Zoo says.

The young penguin won global fame when he turned up on Peka Peka Beach, north of Wellington, last month, about 3000km from his normal Antarctic home. He has since had various operations at Wellington Zoo to remove sand, sticks and rocks from his stomach - eaten while on the beach.

He has made a good recovery and the zoo and Department of Conservation (DOC) were looking at returning him to the wild in mid to late August, zoo spokeswoman Kate Baker told NZPA today.

This would likely involve transporting him from Wellington to Bluff, either by air or in a refrigerated truck, then taking him on a fishing boat to a point past Stewart Island, where he would be released to start his 3000km swim home.

It was estimated to cost about $30,000 to hire the boat and to cover other expenses involved in getting the penguin back to the wild, Ms Baker said.

"It's just a ball park figure, because we haven't contracted anyone to do it...

We've been taking to a few different people. DOC mostly have been in contact with a few different options in terms of boats and things like that."

The cost of keeping him at the zoo, including food and ice, would total about $10,000, she said.

The zoo had already raised $18,000 which had covered the cost of his upkeep and some of his trip home, she said. It continued to raise donations to hopefully raise the remaining $22,000 for getting him home.

Happy Feet may have also increased the number of visitors to the zoo, she said.

When he had a recent procedure at the zoo's vet clinic on display about 1600 people visited the zoo that day, up from the usual 1100, Ms Baker said.

"We've had good visitation and some of that can be attributed to our increased profile, but visitors can't actually come and see him unless there's a procedure."

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Hundreds of people turned out to see Happy Feet's sixth and final medical procedure at Wellington Zoo before the emperor penguin begins his journey back to the wild tomorrow.

An estimated 1700 visitors craned to see vet Lisa Argilla complete a medical check ahead of Happy Feet's trip, and watch a GPS transmitter being attached to his feathers.

Visitors were rotated past the viewing area in five minute blocks, so that everyone could see the sedated Happy Feet for the last time and say goodbye.

Ms Argilla, who has been looking after Happy Feet since his appearance on Peka Peka Beach, said she had become quite attached to the little guy - but was happy he would be going back where he belongs.

The bird arrived at the zoo weighing 22 kilograms, although it was estimated that up to three kilos of that was sand that had to be removed. He now weighs a healthy 27.4kg.

He will leave Wellington on Monday for a four-day voyage aboard the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research survey ship Tangaroa, before being released into the ocean near Campbell Island.

Dr Argilla will tend to the bird while he is on the boat, along with specially trained Niwa biologists Dan MacGibbon and Neil Bagley.

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