Feature

This gay penguin couple in the Netherlands wanted to be dads, so they stole an egg

A pair of gay male penguins at a Dutch zoo have all-egg-edly stolen an egg from a pair of straight penguins, according to zoo officials.

Skipper and Ping.

Skipper and Ping in their zoo enclosure. Source: AFP

Look, the heart wants what the heart wants - especially during breeding season.

A pair of gay male penguins at a Dutch zoo have been accused of stealing an egg from a pair of straight penguins, according to zoo officials.

In a , animal caretaker Marc Belt said the loved-up black-footed penguins, who live at Dieren Park Amersfoort zoo in the Netherlands, were now busily incubating the stolen egg. 

"The gay couple are looking after the egg very well and take turns in keeping it warm," Belt told a local news network, according to .

"Homosexuality is fairly common in penguins, but what makes this couple remarkable is that they have gotten hold of an egg."
A spokesperson for the zoo said the gay couple, named Skipper and Ping, stole the egg from another couple during an "unguarded moment."

However, this story has a happy ending all round, with the straight penguins quick to produce a replacement egg.

Earlier this year, , Sphen and Magic, entered the throes of early parenthood over at , welcoming their first baby chick, born from a fostered egg..

The chick, named Sphengic, is now a happy and healthy girl - with a sibling on the way.

A zookeeper said the "fully fledged" chick was thriving under the care of her two fathers.

"We’ve started to see her personality shine in the last few weeks," the aquarium . "And can confirm she is every bit the diva - or QWEEN - we would expect her to be.”

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Published 20 November 2019 12:43pm
Updated 20 November 2019 12:51pm
By Samuel Leighton-Dore


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