(Photo Credit: Karl Broeseke / Berlin Zoo)
Skipper And Ping Welcome New Addition To Their Family
A same-sex couple of male penguins at the Berlin Zoo have just become new parents! The two penguins adopted an abandoned egg and have been caring for it since July, cording to the BBC.
The penguins, named Skipper and Ping, adopted the egg after it was abandoned by the only female penguin in the group of six king penguins at the zoo. Zookeeper Norbert Zahmel told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper that the female penguin has not shown interest in her eggs recently, so there has not been a chick born at the zoo since 2002.
The zoo is very much looking forward to successful hatching now that an egg is properly being cared for. Skipper and Ping have been known to try to hatch fish and stones before, but now that they actually have an egg, the two are behaving very much like model parents, taking turns to keep the egg warm.
Unfortunately, though, the zoo is not certain if the egg was fertilized. If it was though, a penguin chick could be born in early September. So the zookeepers decided to try it, and put the egg on the feet of one penguin, and “he already knew what to do,” Zahmel said.
Gay penguins are making headlines this year. In July, the London Zoo held a Pride celebration for its same-sex penguin couples. Out of 93 Humboldt penguins at the zoo in the United Kingdom, the London Zoo hosts three same-sex couples.
By: Maytinee Kramer
