Finding Buddy: Endangered African penguin stolen, released into the wild

(CNN)A search is underway for an endangered penguin that was stolen from a South African marine park last Wednesday.
CCTV footage reveals that two students drove into the Port Elizabeth marine conservation center, Bayworld, early Wednesday morning and snatched the male African penguin known as "Buddy" within a matter of minutes. The pair wrapped the penguin in a shirt before driving off and releasing it into the ocean.

Dylan Bailey, manager of Bayworld told CNN that staff only noticed Buddy had disappeared on Thursday morning: "One of our curators realized that one of our birds were missing during the usual monthly medical check."
The center said CCTV showed a vehicle was parked outside the wall of the premises, which appears to have been used by the culprits to jump over the wall to gain access to the penguin enclosure. A press release was sent out the following day on social media requesting that those who have any information on the missing penguin come forward.
African penguins were added to the endangered list in 2010 after decades of rapid population decline.
African penguins were added to the endangered list in 2010 after decades of rapid population decline.
Shortly after, Bailey says the lawyer of these two students expressed that they wanted to come forward and tell their story. "When we met with them they were very upset and shaken and didn't know what they had done," he said.
The two students revealed that they were drinking that evening and didn't agree with the birds being kept in captivity and wanted to free them into the wild. However they quickly realized they had done something wrong.
"There was no malicious intent or anything like that, or intention to harm them," Bailey said.
Bayworld hope to reintroduce Buddy to his mate and chicks (one pictured) should they recover him.
Bayworld hope to reintroduce Buddy to his mate and chicks (one pictured) should they recover him.
Buddy is one of many penguins who are born in captivity and cannot survive the conditions of the wild. "All of our birds here are captive-reared birds", Bailey said.
Any birds received by the center undergo rehabilitation however if unsuccessful, the birds cannot be released back into the wild and are instead kept in captivity for breeding.
"Buddy hasn't had any opportunity to learn how to be a penguin out in the wild," Bailey said. The first two years of a penguins life is crucial. During this time they become familiar with the area they live and learn how to hunt and fend for themselves.
"Unfortunately because he's captive-reared he doesn't have those skills and sadly he's completely lost and doesn't know what he's doing, his instinct was to probably make a run for the sea but he doesn't have a clue of where he is," Bailey said.
He said Buddy was a very healthy penguin but if he isn't located within the next two weeks his chances of survival are very slim. "He was actually quite fat and we estimate about three weeks worth of reserves on him that he'll be able to survive by," Bailey said.
Although they haven't had any luck a week later, Bailey says that they have a stranding response team that regularly checks nearby beaches. Local rehabilitation centers and a penguin rescue station are also involved in the search, along with South African National Parks.
Members of the public have also teamed up in efforts to search for him. Bayworld said that Buddy is said to still have a tag on his flipper that will help identify him easily, "the number 266 (red blue blue)."
Bayworld hope to reintroduce Buddy to his mate and chicks should they recover him. "We're still optimistic but unfortunately we have no way of knowing if we're going to find him or not," Bailey said.
African penguins were added to the endangered list in 2010 after decades of rapid population decline.