Gay Penguins At New York Zoo Become First-Time Dads!
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo of Syracuse, New York recently announced that a Humboldt penguin chick hatched from an egg that was being cared for by a male penguin couple.
According to People Magazine citing a news release, the zoo added that the adult male Humboldt penguins, Elmer and Lima, are now raising the chick that hatched on Jan. 1.
“🐧🌈🐧 We have some very exciting news! The first chick to be fostered by a pair of same-sex penguins at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo hatched on January 1! Foster parents, adult male Humboldt penguins Elmer and Lima, took turns incubating the egg and have been doing a wonderful job warming and feeding the chick since.“
April Zimpel, a bird manager at the zoo explained that “It was their first time fostering and they really knocked it out of the park.”
The zoo also noted that in the past it had at least two pairs of penguins with a history of breaking their fertilized eggs, so sometimes the team has to rely on foster parents: “Some pairs, when given a dummy egg, will sit on the nest but leave the egg to the side and not incubate it correctly, or they’ll fight for who is going to sit on it when,” zoo director Ted Fox said. “That’s how we evaluate who will be good foster parents — and Elmer and Lima were exemplary in every aspect of egg care.”
“Elmer and Lima’s success at fostering is one more story that our zoo can share to help people of all ages and backgrounds relate to animals,” Fox said.