Penguins rescued from oil spill cleaned and released into the wild

WELLINGTON, New Zealand

Forty-nine were cleaned and nursed back to health. They were released and immediately ran from their containers into the sea.

The penguins were rescued after about 400 tons of oil leaked from a grounded ship last month. More than 300 penguins had to be rescued from that spill.

More than 2,000 sea birds died in the spill.

Each bird has been micro-chipped and will be monitored over the next year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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