First it was New York and now it’s Bremerhaven. New York City’s zoo made money on their children’s book about Tango, the little girl chinstrap penguin raised by her two daddies, Roy and Silo. Now Bremerhaven has 3 or 4 gay couples among its Humbolt penguin population.
Carmen Jaspersen / European Pressphoto Agency captured Z and Vielpunkt in their enclosure.
The Humbolt penguins are a slightly endangered species so the zookeepers decided to see whether Z and Vielpunkt could raise a chick. They’d tried introducing females, to gay group outrage and no avail! The two penguins had tried incubating a rock which hadn’t been very successful. But when a heterosexual penguin couple tossed out this egg, the zookeepers gave it to these two. They’ve been exemplary parents. They incubated an egg for 30 days and then since late April, they’ve been faithfully feeding their young’un fish mash. (don’t ask, or i’ll recite my poem!) No word on gender of this happy lil guy. But their vet has proclaimed Vielpunkt and Z the best parents in the zoo!
Carmen Jaspersen took this shot of the happy chick.
I read a lot of articles on this, but my favorite came from the LA Times: That article also tells the story of an ingenious Chinese gay pair who attempted to steal eggs from straight couples, disguising their theft by leaving rocks in the nest. Originally removed from the zoo, public outcries brought them back. They now have been given two eggs of their own. No word yet on their parenting skills.
Tip: Mother Nature would like you to know, it’s all about raising the children so that they’re healthy and happy. That happens best in happy families.