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"It's a tragedy," Tor Erik Standal, head of the Aalesund
Aquarium on Norway's west coast, told Reuters after the three
Humboldt penguin chicks and one egg vanished early on Thursday.
Police charged five or six youths on Friday for endangering
animals by breaking into the aquarium, based on video
surveillance evidence, police investigator Rita Thoresen told
Reuters.
"None of them admits taking the penguins," she said.
More than 100 volunteers turned out to help the police search
for the flightless birds in the countryside around the aquarium,
Standal said. The chicks are about three weeks old and weigh
only around 300 grams (10 ounces) each.
"They will not be able to survive for much longer," he said.
"They should have been in their nest for maybe 2-3 more weeks
before they go outside."
May is a time of celebration for high school graduates in
Norway, often including drunkenness and pranks or dares such as
going without sleep for 72 hours, kissing a policeman or even,
on one occasion, hugging the central bank governor.
(Reporting by Alister Doyle; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
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