Stolen pair of penguins picked up by UK police

By Ted Hennessey, Press Association

Two penguins were found by police officers after they were stolen.

The pair of Humboldt penguins were taken in November 2018 from a zoo in Nottinghamshire.

Police officers picked them up on Wednesday afternoon in Stelley Village, west Nottingham, after a tip-off, and returned them to the undisclosed zoo.

Following the incident a 23-year-old-man was arrested on suspicion of burglary and theft.

He has since been released under investigation.

Sergeant Andrew Browning and PC Paul Toon worked together during the investigation.

Sgt Browning 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."

Humboldt penguins are found along the coast of Peru and Chile and can grow up to 2ft long.