Police pick up two penguins stolen from a zoo

Two penguins stolen from a zoo last year have been found by police in a Nottinghamshire village.

A 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of burglary and theft after officers found the penguins at a property in Strelley Village on Wednesday following a tip-off.

The Humboldt penguins were taken from a zoo in November. Police declined to reveal which zoo was involved but said the penguins had now been returned.

Sergeant Andrew Browning from Nottinghamshire Police said: "My first thought was this is one for the books, and one to tell the grandkids, because there's no way we thought we would go down there and actually find two penguins.

"It was an unusual one. Even when we went down to custody it made everyone laugh, particularly the custody sergeant who was booking us in. It was a real off-the-wall find."

A Nottinghamshire Police spokesman added: "Rather than let it turn into a cold case, we acted quickly on a tip-off that the pair of Humboldt penguins had been taken in November and were now believed to be residing in Notts.

"After putting our beak in and making inquiries, we recovered the birds safe and well on Wednesday afternoon and returned to the zoo."

It later emerged that exotic animal breeder Reece Oliver had alerted police after buying the penguins "in good faith" online.

The 27-year-old found the penguins were microchipped when he took them to the vet, according to The Sun.

The suspect, from the Preston area, was released under investigation.

Humboldt penguins are native to South America, found on the coasts of Peru and Chile.

They are named after the Humboldt current and can grow up to 2ft long. Conservationists have warned that their numbers in the wild are declining due to overfishing, pollution from oil spills, and habitat loss.

They are also at risk from the disturbance caused by Guano harvesting. Guano - penguin droppings- is a valuable fertiliser and is harvested periodically from many colonies.

Protected nesting and foraging areas have been created.