Conquer Club

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.