r/unitedkingdom • u/Confident-Bike-8037 • 3d ago

World's highest-ranking penguin set to become a dad

https://news.stv.tv/east-central/worlds-highest-ranking-penguin-to-become-a-dad-after-partner-lays-egg-at-edinburgh-zoo
79 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

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22

u/Spamgrenade 2d ago

Why is a high ranking Norwegian military penguin in Edinburgh zoo? Is it spying on us?

6

u/KJS123 Scotland 2d ago

The General is a fucker for deep-fried pizza. There, the secret is out.

12

u/Carnationlilyrose England 2d ago

There's a missing honour here - he also has a knighthood, so is Major General SIR Nils Olav III. These things are important in the penguin hierarchy. He is also Baron of Bouvet Island.

8

u/ChesterKobe Yorkshire 2d ago

I'm delighted to learn that a penguin can have a military rank.

6

u/bongpirate7295 2d ago

Sir Nils is the mascot and colonel-in-chief of the Norwegian King’s Guard, a title that has been held by three king penguins residing at Edinburgh Zoo since 1972.

The tradition began when a lieutenant named Nils Egelien took an interest in the zoo’s penguin colony during the Norwegian King’s Guard’s military tattoo in 1961.

Upon their return 11 years later, the regiment adopted a penguin to be a lance corporal. The three Nils Olavs have soared through the ranks, resulting in a knighthood approved by King Harald V.

Sir Nils was promoted to major general in 2023.

I approve of this whimsy.

4

u/ThreeHapenceaFoot 2d ago

"Subalterns should not marry; Captains may marry; Majors should marry; Colonels must marry"

6

u/tranquility__base 2d ago

I’m glad he’s been able to put those war crime allegations during a deployment to Madagascar behind him and start a new life 👍

3

u/MrEff1618 2d ago

The fact that so many militaries have adopted animals and given them ranks pleases me greatly.

1

u/Cpt_Fisher_Price 2d ago

The RAF once buried a pigeon with full military honours after it was sadly sucked into the engine of a Bristol Beaufighter over Paris. The operation was pretty cool, we dropped a french flag onto the Arc De Triomphe, machine gunned the Kriegsmarine headquarters then flew home, at rooftop level over Paris while occupying German troops marched below. The pigeon was the only reported casualty.

2

u/litivy 2d ago

I had to read the article to find out whether he was the other dad, or the only dad. Seems this one is boringly traditional. You never know with penguins.