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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSame-sex penguin couple at Berlin zoo adopt abandoned egg
A same-sex couple of male penguins at the Berlin Zoo have adopted an abandoned egg and have been caring for it since July, the BBC reported. The penguins, Skipper and Ping, adopted the egg after it was abandoned by the only female penguin in the group of six king penguins at the zoo, zookeeper Norbert Zahmel told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper. She has not shown interest in her eggs recently, and there has not been a chick born at the zoo since 2002.
The pair has been known to try to hatch fish and stones before, zoo spokesman Maximilian Jäger told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper. They are behaving like model parents, taking turns to keep the egg warm by nesting it on their feet under a flap of belly skin, Jäger said. But Jäger added that the zoo is not certain if the egg was fertilized. If it was, the chick could be born in early September.
Zahmel said the zookeepers decided to put the egg on the feet of one penguin, and he already knew what to do. The couple has reportedly even protected the egg from rival penguins, according to the BBC. The 10-year-old penguins moved to Berlin from a zoo in Hamburg, Germany, in April, and they have been together ever since. Gay penguins are often found in captivity and the wild, according to the BBC.
This is not the first milestone for gay penguins this year. In July, the London Zoo held a Pride celebration for its same-sex penguin couples. Of the 93 Humboldt penguins at the zoo in the United Kingdom, they host three same-sex couples.
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/457142-same-sex-penguins-at-berlin-zoo-adopt-abandoned-egg
FirstLight
(13,360 posts)I hope they have a family!
mcar
(42,300 posts)What a nice story.
CTyankee
(63,901 posts)Fine. Watcha gonna do about it, dingbats?
Yavin4
(35,433 posts)and they dress nicer.
htuttle
(23,738 posts)It always looks like they're standing at attention.
They do have pretty good posture, though.
A HERETIC I AM
(24,365 posts)Male Sheep have been known to have these sorts of monogamous, long term affiliations.
Homosexuality/same-sex attraction is by no means unique to humans.
912gdm
(959 posts)they feel like dense velvet. So cool!