Happy Feet Time's (runner-up) animal of 2011

Emperor penguin Happy Feet receives a salt-water shower. He made many Kiwi friends during his three-month visit. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Time Magazine has named runaway penguin Happy Feet as runner-up in its annual 'Animal of the Year' list.

The Emperor Penguin was beaten to the number one spot by SEAL Team Six's canine companion - better known as the dog who helped take down Osama Bin Laden. The heroic military dog was attached to a human soldier and lowered from a helicopter into Bin Laden's Pakistan compound and suffered injuries in the raid.

But the magazine "couldn't get enough" of New Zealand's own penguin-out-of-water, who became an "overnight sensation" when he turned up on our coast in June.

Animals also named as runners-up included Loukanikos, the Greek protest dog - who has barked and marched alongside protesters since demonstrations in December 2008 - a German dairy cow that escaped her electric-fenced paddock and the Bronx Zoo's escapee cobra, Mia.