Police officers in Nottinghamshire picked up a pair of penguins which were stolen in November.
The Humboldt penguins were taken from a zoo two months ago, but were found safe and well on Wednesday.
They were found in a house in Strelley Village, near Nottingham.
Officers arrested a 23-year-old man on suspicion of burglary and theft.
Sergeant Andrew Browning and PC Paul Toon worked together on the investigation.
Sgt Browning said: "My first thought was this is one for the books, and one to tell the grandkids, because there's no way we thought we would go down there and actually find two penguins.
"It was an unusual one. Even when we went down to custody it made everyone laugh, particularly the custody sergeant who was booking us in. It was a real off-the-wall find."
The rescue prompted laughs on social media, with Nichola Leake commenting: "Theft and burglary or kidnapping and burglary? Waddle it be?.. get it??"
Helen Waller said: "*checks calendar to see if it's April Fools Day*"
Elizabeth Maltby added: "All sounds a bit fishy to me."
The penguins are native to South America.
