Promoted Penguin Reaches Career Milestone in Norwegian Army

A king penguin in Scotland’s Edinburgh Zoo reached a new career milestone this week as he was promoted to Major General in the King’s Guard of Norway. His new title is a mouthful: Major General Sir Nils Olav III, Baron of the Bouvet Islands.

The Edinburgh-Norway penguin connection began in 1961, when a lieutenant named Nils Egelien of the Norwegian King's Guard visited the zoo's penguin colony and was gobsmacked by the birds’ gait, which bore an uncanny resemblance to how his own unit marched in drill. In 1972, Egelien returned to Edinburgh and arranged for the King's Guard to adopt a penguin named Nils Olav (Egelien’s first name plus the name of Norway's king at the time, Olav V).

A tradition was established to keep the name even as penguins came and went, but successive birds have risen in the ranks over the decades. The original was a mere Mascot, but was promoted to Corporal in 1982, Sergeant in 1987, Regimental Sergeant Major in 1993, Honourable Regimental Sergeant Major in 2001, Colonel-in-Chief in 2005, Knighthood in 2008, Brigadier Sir in 2016, and now Major General.  

The king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) is the second-largest species of penguin, a little smaller but similar in appearance to the mighty emperor penguin. King penguins were among the first species to take up residence in the Edinburgh Zoo, which in 1919 became the first zoo in the world to successfully breed the species.

The zoo’s logo, as well as the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s crest, features a king penguin. Now the world’s most decorated bird has a title fit for a king.

Photo credit: Edinburgh Zoo