(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-22 20:31

HARBIN -- A pair of penguins in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province became withdrawn and anxious after the egg they were hatching was smashed in a fight with other jealous penguins, according to sources with the Polar Museum of Harbin on Thursday.

One of the penguin couple and their broken egg. [harbin.northeast.cn]

The female penguin layed an egg on November 3. This led to jealousy among other penguins in the zoo, who lingered around the mother waiting for their opportunity to strike.

Jealousy finally turned to violence at about 7 pm Tuesday, when the female penguin was absent. A fat penguin jumped onto the hatching area, jostled away the penguin father and tried to take away the egg. The angry father immediately blocked the way of the looter. Unfortunately the egg dropped in the fight and was broken.

The saddened couple refused to eat after the tragedy and shunned their fellows. They appeared irritable and restless.

To help them recover from their sorrow, experts with the polar museum placed a boiled chicken egg between the penguins to soothe them. The penguins have been separated from the others and offered special food--arctic shrimp, said Yao Lei, staff with the polar museum.

There are currently 17 penguins in the polar museum, all brought from the Antarctic in November 2005, among whom three are female. Another female penguin is going to lay eggs soon.

It takes three to eight years for penguins to reach sexual maturity. A female penguin usually lay one or two eggs in a clutch.