Gay penguins adopt an egg

[mrswdk]

Berlin gay penguins adopt abandoned egg

Two male penguins at Berlin Zoo have been caring for an abandoned egg since July in their long quest to become parents.

The same-sex couple, Skipper and Ping, are keen to have a chick of their own, and have even been known to "try to hatch fish and stones", spokesman Maximilian Jäger told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper.

He said the two king penguins adopted the egg, which had been abandoned by the sole female of the species at the zoo, and are "behaving like model parents, taking turns to keep the egg warm" by nestling it on their feet under a flap of belly skin.

The 10-year-old pair moved to Berlin from Hamburg's Hagenbeck Zoo in April, and have been inseparable ever since.

Gay penguins of either sex are nothing new, and are to be found both in the wild and in captivity.

Those at London Zoo joined in the city's Pride event this year, and Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium in Ireland even has a gay penguin majority, with eight out of its 14 gentoo penguins coupled up with a partner of the same sex.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-f ... e-49318080

[tzor]

There is something "queer" about this article. A lot of the material presented seems to be a twisted presentation of King Penguin behavior.

First of all King Penguins are "serially monogamous" with a fidelity between years around 29%. Not sure what the numbers are in the zoo. Incubation is 55 days and both the male and female take turns with the egg for shifts of 6-18 days. So basically once mating has finished the genders of the penguins does not matter. Since we don't know about the the like of the two penguins (hey they may have been just drinking buddies) before the egg was introduced any speculation on the "sexuality" of the two is hearsay.

[Symmetry]

I won't be truly convinced of your stance until the penguins abort the egg, destroy marriage and western civilisation, and try to ban un-gay confectionery.

If they're sht**ng in the same pen as straight penguins this will mean war.