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Cute thing of the day: Adorable South Korean Christmas penguin march

Posted at 6:15 AM, Dec 20, 2013
and last updated 2013-12-20 08:15:38-05

(CNN) — Penguins can do the most ordinary or the most sinister of things, and still come across as cute.

So you can just imagine the mushy effect on your insides upon seeing this little group of African penguins (also called jackass penguins, no joke) waddling around dressed in tiny penguin-sized Christmas outfits at Everland Amusement Park in Yongin, South Korea.

Some dressed like Santa, some like Christmas trees, they walked, marched and melted the hearts of every squealing, DSLR-toting onlooker twice a day since the beginning of December.

Zookeepers lead them around the zoo, also dressed for the occasion.

While their march was slated to go on twice a day every day until Christmas, the schedule has been unexpectedly cut short due to the drops in temperature in South Korea.

“Today was the last day,” said Everland’s media spokesperson Kim In-chul. “As they are African penguins they are not used to the cold weather so we wanted to make sure they didn’t fall ill.”

And what’s the park’s response to the Daily Mail’s headline wondering if the march was “Cute or cruel?”

“It’s exercise for the penguins and they are in a very safe environment with keepers they trust, so we don’t believe it should be considered cruel in any way,” said Kim.

The-CNN-Wire
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