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Gay Penguins Raise Chick

By John Johnson, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 3, 2009 7:01 PM CDT

(Newser) – A pair of homosexual male penguins is raising a chick together, the BBC reports. A zoo in Germany reports that one of its three pairs of gay males hatched the egg after it was rejected by its biological parents. "Since the chick arrived, they have been behaving just as you would expect a heterosexual couple to do," said a zoo official. "The two happy fathers spend their days attentively protecting, caring for, and feeding their adopted offspring."

The zoo in Bremerhaven made headlines a few years ago when it noticed homosexual traits among six male Humboldt penguins—attempts at mating and hatching chicks from stones—and brought in female penguins to see if they'd change. Didn't work. For the record, the new dads are named Z and Vielpunkt.

In this file photo, King Penguins march around the St. Louis Zoo. (AP Photo/The Post-Dispatch, John L. White)

A group of Humboldt Penquins enters their new habitat at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. No word of any gay pairings here. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

Berlin • zoo • homosexual • gays • penguins

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Female Splits Up 'Gay' Penguins

It's definitely over for Toronto Zoo's Buddy and Pedro

Why Is 'Homosexual Conduct' Still Illegal in Texas?

Despite Supreme Court ruling, anti-sodomy law remains on books

Gay British Men Can Donate Blood, With One Catch...

...they have to have abstained from sex with other men for 10 years

9M Americans Gay or Bisexual

But we need better surveys for a more accurate number: demographer

Ark. School Board Member Wishes All Gays Would Die

Clint McCance's Facebook post gets him unwanted national attention

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