The Penguin and the Zoo-Keeper: A Love Story

It's just another love story. Girl meets boy, girl loves boy, girl leaves boy, girl loves boy again. Except in the case of this particular story, the girl happens to be a penguin.

13 years ago, an African penguin arrived at the Allwetterzoo Münster, reports ABC News. While normally penguins will be aggressive toward their keepers, this one, Peter Vollbracht told Spiegel Online, ignored the 80 other penguins and "would just sit on my boot or arm and ask to be petted." Sandy, as he named her, apparently did not believe in playing hard to get: "When I would get to work in the morning, she would be there waiting for me and call out to me. And when we did our daily penguin march for exercise, she would always jump to the front of the line to be next to me." For ten years the couple had their special relationship, and Sandy became somewhat of a celebrity in Germany.

Then Vollbracht got sick and missed six weeks of work, reports ABC News. But "out of sight, out of mind" apparently applies to primarily monogamous penguins. When Vollbracht returned, Sandy had set her sights on Tom, a younger penguin. Sandy and Tom settled down, had a couple of chicks, and then, sadly, Tom died. The newly available Sandy looked around for a new mate and found... Vollbracht. While her keeper points out that she needs a penguin partner to lead a normal life, it seems that some things are just meant to be.

Tags: penguin, penguins