Inca and Rayas, two male Gentoo penguins who have been pining away at Madrid’s Faunia Park, are finally getting to be dads now that an egg has been delivered to their nest.
The boys metcute six years ago and have been futilely building a nest every mating season since then—until finally the zoo decided to give them an egg. “We wanted them to have something to stay together for, so we got an egg. Otherwise they might have become depressed,” keeper Yolanda Martin told The Times of London.
Oh Yolanda, staying together for the kids never works.
As the guys await their bundle of joy, Inca has been devotedly sitting on the egg, while Rayas guards the nest and stores the food.
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At least one observer says the situation is more nurture than nature: “When you put things in captivity, odd things happen,” Kevin McGowan of Cornell University’s Laboratory of Ornithology told ABCNews.com. “The way penguins work is they do get paired for a long time. Basically, the only other penguin they care about is their mate, so it’s important for them to find somebody who’s compatible, and if you don’t have a normal upbringing then it’s difficult to say how ‘normal’ they can be.”
Spare us your labels: Gay-penguin love will not be denied!
Besides, it’s not like there haven’t been other same-sex-loving waterfowl. Last year two male penguins named Adam and Steve were married at a zoo in northern China and given a baby chick to rear.
Oh c’mon—their names were not Adam and Steve!
1equalityUSA
I love gay animals. These boys dress well too. A little formal, but better to over-dress rather than be too casual. May their egg grow up knowing it’s loved and cared for by two selfless parents.
Spike
So much for the respect of traditional penguin male/female relationships. What next, the Kim Kardashian of penguins hooks up with a hot athletic penguin, only to leave him after 72 days to raise the baby penguin on his own? These penguins need to captured and placed behind an electrified fence!!!! The gay penguin agenda is out of control!!!
Oh, ok
Gay penguin stories never get old, but I wish people wouldn’t over-analyze them. They’re just cute, they don’t represent human beings. Comparing ourselves to animals makes us sound like jokes.
mk_ultra_again
Mcgowen sounds a bit phobish. I’m surprised he didn’t quote the penguin bible!
M
@oh, ok- we are animals.. You sound like the joke.. Just saying..