THERE will be no free ride back to Antarctica for a young penguin who defied the odds by swimming all the way to New Zealand.

It could bring infections home and, anyway, there's no way to transport the animal this time of year.

Wildlife officials said today they will let "nature take its course" after the emperor penguin ended up on picturesque Peka Peka Beach on New Zealand's North Island - 3200km from Antarctic waters - in the country's first sighting of the bird in the wild in 44 years.

The penguin could have caught a disease by swimming through warmer climes, and wildlife officials would not want to be responsible for introducing illnesses into the insulated Antarctic penguin colony, said Peter Simpson, a program manager for New Zealand's Department of Conservation.

Then there are the logistics.

Right now, it is dark almost 24 hours a day in Antarctica. Virtually no-one travels there this time of year, Simpson said, and even if they did, there would be no simple way to transport and cool a bird that stands almost 1m high and is well insulated with fat.

Wildlife officials say the penguin has been eating wet sand, likely mistaking it for snow, and Simpson said its plight has sparked entreaties from around the world asking New Zealand to help the penguin get home since it was spotted by a resident on Monday.

"We are going to let nature take its course," he said. "It roamed here naturally. What is wrong with that?"

Simpson said he hopes the bird will find its own way back - particularly as it starts to become hungry.

The penguin appears healthy and well fed, he added, and may not need another meal for several weeks.

The unusual bird attracted all sorts of attention at the beachtoday .

School groups visited, television crews took footage, and onlookers snapped photos and even sketched it.

The penguin has been resting on the sand throughout the day but apparently has been taking to the water at night, Simpson said.

Experts don't know if the bird is a male or female - because the two sexes are almost indistinguishable among Emperor penguins.

The tallest and largest species of penguin, emperors typically spend their entire lives in Antarctica.

Estimated to be about 10 months old, the wayward penguin probably was born during the last Antarctic winter and may have been searching for squid and krill when it got lost, experts said.

The last confirmed sighting of a wild emperor in New Zealand was in 1967 at the southern Oreti Beach, Simpson said.