Cheeky pair of penguins defy police in the hope of snaffling sushi from stand in New Zealand

Police in New Zealand have said they “temporarily detained” two “grumpy” penguins who wandered into a sushi stand.

The owners of the shop near Welling railway station found the pair of “waddling vagrants” hiding under their premises on Monday and reported them to the police.

The officer who responded, Constable John Zhu, said on Facebook it was not the first time he had encountered one of the penguins.

“We received a call about 8:40pm on Saturday night of a penguin on the road in Featherston Street,” Wellington District Police said.

“Police responded and with some help from members of the public released the penguin, described as 'little and blue', back into the sea.

“Then today, about 6:35am, Police received another report of the penguin, this time with a companion, near Wellington Railway Station.

“Constable Zhu responded and, after sensing something fishy, established that the penguins were nesting underneath a food truck near the station.

"DOC and Wellington Zoo were contacted, and with some inter-agency cooperation the adventurous pair were released back into Wellington Harbour."

Wellington harbour is home to at least 600 pairs of blue penguins, but conservationists told Radio New Zealand it was the first time they have heard of them making themselves at home in the city itself.

Department of Conservation manager Jack Mace said the penguins may have got to the sushi stand through freshwater pipes but the owners said he had seen the birds on another occasion heading across a busy road from the harbour.