Injured Penguin Treated with Honey

Back to the Wild After Hospital Stay
By Rebecca Fox, Otago Daily Times (New Zealand),2/20/2010

Watching an endangered yellow-eyed penguin dive into the sea and make its way back to its nest, gave no indication that three weeks ago its prognosis was not so good, after a leg injury...

Penguin Place staff member Glen Riley said the penguin was severely dehydrated and weak when it arrived at the hospital.

They treated the wound with manuka honey cream and kept the penguin in a small pen to give it time to heal.

Because other penguins treated with heavy doses of antibiotics had problems with their new feathers coming through during moulting, staff had delayed the dose for this penguin, instead letting the antibacterial properties of the honey do the work.

"It's healed really well. It's amazing.

"You can barely tell."...