Out-Of-Place Penguins Get Flown From Brazil to South Atlantic

Almost 400 penguins that had mysteriously washed up on Brazil's beaches were transported south on an air force jet Saturday. The International Fund for Animal Welfare said that the penguin release was the largest ever in South America. Experts hope a small group of older penguins released along with the young ones will help guide them south to the Patagonia.

Magellanic penguins breed in large colonies in southern Argentina and Chile and migrate north as far as southwest Brazil between March and September.

Environmentalists say it is not known why the penguins were stranded so far north, but some suggest the birds could have been carried beyond their usual range by a flow of warm water.

source:USA Today