Valentine’s Week: Why a man once dressed up as a penguin to propose to his girlfriend

Cotswold Wildlife Park took to Instagram to share a story when a man dressed up as a penguin to propose to his then-girlfriend. He did it for a special reason.

The video is shared on an Instagram page dedicated to a class at Gandaki Boarding School in Nepal. “Dear Sujan sir, Happy birthday. Thank you for always going out and beyond to give the best for us, thank you for being our friend, thank you for making us feel like a big chaotic family. We have learned so much from you, much more than the pages of any textbook could ever teach us. This prank might have gone a little overboard, but your effort clearly shows how much you care for each of us. Sending bouquets of love and flowers, Section D,” reads the caption posted along with the video.

Valentine's Week: The image shows a man proposing to his girlfriend in a penguin costume. (Instagram/@cotswoldwildlifepark)

“We’d like to share Andrew and Kate’s story with you. A few years ago, Andrew and his then-girlfriend Kate visited the Park. Kate loves Penguins almost as much as she loves Andrew (which is quite a lot). Andrew, along with keepers at the Park, planned something special for his girlfriend. They were booked in for a Penguin Encounter. Keepers kept Kate busy by feeding the Penguins while Andrew made an excuse to pop back to the car,” the park wrote on Instagram.

In the next few lines, they added what happened when Andrew returned “dressed in his Penguin outfit and a small box with a big surprise inside”.

“During the daily Penguin Talk, he got down on one knee and proposed to Kate. She said 'Yes!' and they got engaged in front of a crowd of delighted visitors who helped them celebrate with a rapturous round of applause. They are now happily married, and we’d like to thank them both for sharing these photos with us,” the park added.

They wrapped their post with a series of photos. While some of the pictures show the proposal, others show some of the inhabitants of the place.

Take a look at this wonderful proposal:

The post was shared a day ago. Since then, it has accumulated nearly 1,000 likes. The share has further collected tons of comments from people.

The woman from the proposal picture took to the comments section and shared a sweet response. “That was me! I didn’t actually realise what was happening. I just assumed there was a man dressed up waiting to do something after I had finished!’ she wrote.

Here’s how Instagram users react to this proposal post:

“My husband told me he loved me in front of the otters. Then years later proposed in front of the red pandas,” wrote an Instagram user. “I got engaged outside the Manor House by the Rhinos in 2022,” shared another.