Penguin picks up another military honour

A penguin is set to get one of Norway's most prestigious military honours.

Nils Olav, a king penguin at Edinburgh Zoo, has been sponsored by the Norwegian Army since 1972 and carries the rank of regimental sergeant major.

He is due to be promoted again at the zoo, but his new rank is a closely guarded secret known only to the Royal Norwegian Guard's top brass.

Senior regimental figures are understood to have been in high-level talks with Norway's King Harald and are promising a special occasion.

Nils Olav was originally sponsored after a lieutenant in the Norwegian King's Guard, Nils Egelien, was taken with the zoo's penguins on a visit in 1961.

The sponsorship was arranged on the regiment's next visit in 1972, when Nils Olav - his name is a composition of the lieutenant who discovered him and the then King Olav of Norway - was given the rank of lance corporal.

He was subsequently promoted to sergeant in 1987, but died shortly afterwards and was replaced in 1993 by a two-year-old king penguin, also named Nils Olav, who was immediately promoted to regimental sergeant major.

Edinburgh Zoo started its animal sponsorship scheme during the Second World War and has since attracted 1,500 sponsors who bring in about £70,000 in charitable donations.