Same-sex penguin couple welcome baby chick after adopting egg together

By MiNDFOOD

Same-sex penguin couple welcome baby chick after adopting egg together
A pair of female penguins have welcomed a new baby chick, after first adopting the egg from another penguin couple. 

Gentoo penguins Electra and Viola from Oceanogràfic València aquarium in Spain successfully adopted, incubated and hatched the egg earlier this month, the aquarium announced.

While same-sex penguin couples are not uncommon, Electra and Viola’s adoption is a first for the aquarium.

According to the aquarium, the “exceptional pair” began to demonstrate common reproductive behaviours during the breeding season, such as building their own nest out of stone, so the carers gave them an egg from another penguin pair.

Two other penguin couples have welcome babies this breeding season. Typically during the incubation period, the father and mother take turns every day to incubate the egg, which lasts 38 days.

In both the wild and captivity, more than 450 species of animals are known to form same-sex partnerships.

In 2018, two male penguins – Sphen and Magic – at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium welcomed their own baby chick, after they too began to create a nest during breeding season. They were first given a dummy egg to see how they would care for the chick before being given the chance to raise a real one.

https://www.facebook.com/oceanograficvl/posts/2742676812684768

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