A compromise was needed. Those in favour of releasing him thousands of miles south of where he was found got their way, providing he could remain in the zoo for a few months to boost revenue and to meet all his media obligations.
But, according to my source, just days before his scheduled release, Happy Feet was found dead in his changing room.
Immediately, foul play was suspected, but my source told me that in all likelihood it was either suicide or an accident - either way, he was dead.
How Happy Feet managed to tangle himself in an extension cord used for a planned light show in his cabaret act is unclear.
My source tells me that people close to Happy Feet knew he was filled with inner turmoil, feelings of never being good enough and frustration at not being considered for more serious roles at the zoo.
When found dead, Happy Feet was only days away from his highly publicised release into the wild, so a replacement needed to be found.
At great cost, researchers travelled to Antarctica to find that replacement, one they could bring back to New Zealand to release into the wild, so he could swim back to Antarctica.
After days of rigorous casting, a replacement called Pengu was found and he was "shipped" back to New Zealand in a plane.
A tag was attached to Pengu's neck and he was transformed into Happy Feet. The tag also served to disguise a distinct birthmark that Pengu had but Happy Feet didn't.
A couple of days later, with the media watching the reluctant patsy, Pengu was released back into the ocean, whereupon he was attacked by a great white, or possibly an orca (the things kids call killer whales).
It is difficult to know what
we can take out of all of this; what the moral of the story is, if you like.
My source no longer works in the manta ray tanks, as he failed a random drug test.
He claims he was set up because he knows too much.
There is clearly much more to this story, and over the next few weeks we will attempt to get to the bottom of it.
