�鶹��

The results are in for the most popular penguin in the world, and the winner is right here in the UK!

Spike, who lives at Birdland in the Cotswolds, has officially been crowned the world's most popular flightless bird, in a competition run by Penguins International.

The 'March of the Penguins Madness' contest is run to draw attention to the difficulties penguins face around the world.

The UK-based King penguin hatched in 2007, but was abandoned by his parents, and so was raised by people working at the centre.

Over the years Spike has become a social media star with 15,000 followers on Facebook, and has even appeared on TV alongside Sir David Attenborough in a programme called Natural Curiosities.

"For Spike to have made quite such a global impact is really incredible," said his keeper, Alistair Keen.

The penguin also features on Christmas and birthday cards, as well as on the front cover of encyclopaedias, and in books and magazines.

Mr Keen said that Spike has "a real personality", and that he and the other staff members at Birdland have "a fantastic bond with him".

Spike was up against Mai, an African penguin who lives in Hawaii.

In the end the result was incredibly close, with Spike getting 50.5% of the vote and Mai 49.5%.

But it wasn't just Mai that Spike had to beat - during the process he took on popular rivals from Australia, America and Canada as well!