Linkypoo

Two "gay" male penguins have hatched a chick and are now rearing it as its adoptive parents, says a German zoo.

The zoo, in Bremerhaven, northern Germany, says the adult males - Z and Vielpunkt - were given an egg which was rejected by its biological parents.

It says the couple are now happily rearing the chick, said to have reached four weeks old.

The zoo made headlines in 2005 over plans to "test" the sexual orientation of penguins with homosexual traits.

Three pairs of male penguins had been seen attempting to mate with each other and trying to hatch offspring from stones.

Since the chick arrived, they have been behaving just as you would expect a heterosexual couple to do

Bremerhaven zoo

The zoo flew in four females in a bid to get the endangered birds to reproduce - but quickly abandoned the scheme after causing outrage among gay rights activists, who accused it of interfering in the animals' behaviour.

The six "gay" penguins remain at the zoo, among them Z and Vielpunkt who are now rearing the chick together after being given the rejected egg.

"Z and Vielpunkt, both males, gladly accepted their 'Easter gift' and got straight down to raising it," said a zoo statement.

"Since the chick arrived, they have been behaving just as you would expect a heterosexual couple to do. The two happy fathers spend their days attentively protecting, caring for and feeding their adopted offspring."

'Drive to mate'

There have been previous reports of exclusive male-to-male pairings among penguins, some of which have also included the rearing of chicks.

Homosexual behaviour in is well documented in many different animals, but it is not understood in detail, says Professor Stuart West, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Oxford.

Professor West says it has been suggested that homosexual activity could serve various purposes - for instance, it may relate to social bonding and establishment of dominance among bonobo chimps, while in some bird species, females may come together to rear young.

Other animals may simply exhibit a "drive to mate", while others may, like humans, enjoy non-procreative sexual activity.

"Homosexuality is nothing unusual among animals," Bremerhaven zoo said on Wednesday.

"Sex and coupling up in our world do not necessarily have anything to do with reproduction."

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Edited June 3, 200916 yr by Satty

Strange....

Chris

DEMS PENGUINS ARE GOIN' T'HELL, I TELL YOU WHAT!

This is funny, because that 'March of the Penguins' movie was hailed by Christian Conservatives, and their ilk as a testament to monogamy, and family values. I wonder what they'll say, now that gay male penguins show such great devotion to their chicks.

Very cool.

Interesting.

We'll this sounds just like the Catholic Church, you only have a bunch of males around, what else would you expect, there is always a sexual urge in every animal type. Only Humans would prey on kids like the priest do, at least these pengiuns are showing some respect to the little bugger. Hope the unknown sex Pengiun enjoys it's life.

This is something which was published in NG way back.

National Geographic - Homosexual Animals

Really intriguing when I first read it.

unknown sex Pengiun

Best. Band Name. Ever.

I thought the males watched over and hatched the eggs anyways?