Bloody Battle Breaks Out When Penguin Finds His Wife With Another Bird

A video that sent the internet abuzz over the weekend tells a familiar story: A husband comes home to find his wife cheating with another man and a violent brawl to win her love ensues. But unlike in more common tales, all the players involved in this saga are penguins.

NatGeo Channel tweeted the clip, titled “Homewrecking Penguin,” on Friday, November 4 and it’s since racked up 300,000 likes. Dramatic music and narration set the mood as the male Magellanic penguin returns to his nest only to discover he’s been replaced. The scene plays out violently from there, with the males swinging their solid-boned wings "like baseball bats," according to the narrator, and using their beaks to peck at each other’s eyes. The original mate eventually concedes to losing both his wife and children. Toward the end he makes a final plea for the female to reconsider, but as the narrator cruelly notes "she’s got no time for losers."

Because the only thing the internet loves more than cute animals is juicy drama, the domestic dispute immediately took Twitter by storm. Numerous memes have been shared and @husbandpenguin and @wifepenguin Twitter handles have been created (based on follower count alone most people seem to be siding #teamwifepenguin).

The video is difficult to watch but viewers shouldn’t feel too bad for the scorned penguin—as NatGeo points out, a colony of 200,000 provides him with plenty of chances to meet someone new.

[h/t National Geographic]