Almost a quarter of Danes carry out unauthorised DIY projects at home, aquarium welcomes new twin penguins and more news from Denmark on Thursday.
Kattegatcentret aquarium welcomes twin penguin hatchlings
Twin penguins have hatched at the Kattegatcentret aquarium in Grenå, central Jutland. The penguins hatched on Tuesday and Wednesday but despite their different hatching dates, the aquarium says in a press release that they are biologically twins.
The eggs both come from a pair of penguins named Aleksander and Johanne, and to ensure the best chance of survival one of the eggs has been given to a different pair of penguins – Jimmi and Potato.
The centre saw its first penguin hatch in 2023, with another hatching the same year and a third in 2025.
“This is our fourth and fifth hatchling. The special thing this time is that we have two hatchlings from the same parents, although they’re in different nests,” zookeeper Mia Rasmussen told Ritzau.
The penguins at the centre are part of an international breeding programme, and the first of the penguin twins hatched on Tuesday morning while there were 18 children on site attending a summer school.
Danish vocabulary: pingvin – penguin
Nature educator calls for toxic caterpillars to stay in Amager Fælled
Work is ongoing to remove the toxic oak processionary moth (OPM) caterpillars from Amager Fælled in Copenhagen, as their microscopic hairs can cause irritation and allergic reactions in humans and animals.
Nature educator and photographer Frej Schmedes believes that the caterpillar should be allowed to stay as it plays a role in biodiversity.
“On Amager Fælled there are a lot of nests from the oak processionary moths in the oak trees. The trees are old and the nests are large, which says that they’ve been here for years,” Schmedes said.
He believes that the caterpillar must have come to the area within the past five or six years but that it has not been discovered due to its camouflage.
Despite the caterpillars’ toxic hairs, he doesn’t believe removing it is the right call.
“They’re part of the menu here in Amager Fælled,” he told Ritzau, adding that caterpillars in all stages are part of the food chain in the area.
“We shouldn’t be reducing biodiversity, we should be improving it.”
He admits, however, that the caterpillars are a bigger issue in Odense.
“Problems occur in areas where there are only oak trees and no other nature,” he said, adding that this means there is no habitat for the caterpillars’ natural predators.
Schmedes describes the caterpillars’ hairs as feeling like multiple mosquito bites in the same area.
“We shouldn’t get rid of everything which we can feel. We shouldn’t get rid of mosquitos because they bite,” he said.
Danish vocabulary: fælled – common (as in, a common area similar to a park)
Sales of ice cream, barbecue meat and hotdog buns rise as Denmark heats up
Sales of sun cream quadrupled in June compared with the same period last year, and Danes are buying 2.5 times as much koldskål and kammerjunkere, the cooling buttermilk-based dessert, as they did at this time in 2025.
That’s according to grocery company Dagrofa, which owns the Meny, Spar and Min Købmand stores.
Summer has arrived earlier than it did last year, which is one of the reasons there is such an uptick in sales of typical summer items compared to in 2025.
So-called ‘convenience vegetables’, pre-prepared vegetables which can be eaten beside grilled meat, have also risen 20 percent in sales, while sales of meat for barbecues has doubled.
“We’re traditional people, and there are just some clear summer classics for Danes,” Jesper Bjerring, category director at Dagrofa, said in a press release.
“In many ways it’s a good thing that the sale of sun cream and bodycare has taken off. We know how important it is. But that also applies to other things, the good weather means that we want to have a nice time out on the veranda, which is why sales of koldskål, kammerjunkere and ice cream are on the top list at this time of year.”
He added that sales of fruit and berries have also risen, with strawberries, watermelon and cherries all up 50 percent compared to this time last year.
Danish vocabulary: solbeskyttelse – sun protection
Too many Danes do DIY projects they’re not allowed to
A new study by YouGov for Gjensidige and TEKNIQ has shown that many people in Denmark carry out DIY projects at home which they are not legally allowed to do by themselves.
This can, for example, include electrical work, plumbing, or work with gas, which all need to be carried out by an authorised professional.
According to the study, 23 percent of Danes have carried out at least one project at home without authorisation, despite the work requiring authorisation. The most common projects include installing new plug sockets, installing washing machines or dishwashers, and extending cables.
“It might seem innocent to install a plug socket or move a tap by yourself, but there’s a reason that type of work requires authorisation,” TEKNIQ’s deputy CEO Adreas Schelbeck said. “You might be handy, but if you’re in doubt as to whether a task needs authorisation then you should always ask an expert before you start.”
Lene Rasmussen, head of damages at insurance company Gjensidige, warns that unauthorised DIY can be dangerous.
“As a property owner you could very quickly end up with very expensive damages if work isn’t carried out correctly,” she said. “That especially applies to electricity and plumbing work, where issues can cause serious fire and water damage or personal injury. That’s why you should always use an authorised installer when the rules require you to.”
The figures also showed that men are much more likely to carry out unauthorised work than women – 15 percent of men have installed a new plug socket without authorisation, while only 2 percent of women have.
“Men in particular have a tendency to overestimate what projects they can and should do themselves at home. It might be tempting to save some money, but if the work is carried out illegally or incorrectly then the consequences can be a lot more expensive than the original saving,” Rasmussen warned.
Danish vocabulary: gør-det-selv-arbejde – DIY work