Tokyo is the home of the world's latest animal celebrity: An "explosive" penguin equipped with "tremendous speed" who escaped the Tokyo Sea Life Park. The unnamed, one-year-old Humboldt penguin has already given newspapers a reason to cite Madagascar and snicker. According to the BBC the penguin busted out on Sunday, was last seen making its way to Tokyo Bay.

The AFP reports that the penguin "scaled a sheer rock face to escape from a Tokyo zoo. As one official at the aquarium said, "Of course it can't fly, but sometimes wildlife have an 'explosive' power when frightened by something. Maybe it ran up the rock after being surprised... It's a bit of a struggle to catch it when it is swimming, because it swims at a tremendous speed." 

It should be noted that Tokyo's escaped penguin isn't the first to mimic the Madagascar plot. Germany had one of its penguins wander into a lion's den in 2011. Everything turned out fine as that penguin was unharmed. We're hoping the same goes for today's escapee. 

Note: The penguin pictured (above) is not the escaped penguin.  Tokyo officials/news agencies have been having trouble getting a clear shot of the bird. 

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Alexander Abad-Santos