A same-sex couple of Humboldt penguins are now raising a baby chick, whom they helped incubate
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo’s colony of Humboldt penguins has grown to 28 on January 1. The newcomer chick stands out for being the first one at the Syracuse, New York conservation facility to be brought to hatching by a same-sex pair, the zoo reported.
Humboldt penguins may accidentally damage their eggs during incubation. Keepers at breeding facilities, like the one at Rosamond Gifford Zoo, may swap a fertilized egg laid by high-risk parents for a dummy and entrust the real deal to a more experienced and careful foster couple.
During this breeding season, they did so with a freshly-bonded pair of male birds named Elmer and Lima. Interestingly, Elmer received his name after the brand of glue, which keepers used to fix the shell of his egg, which got damaged by his parents. In mid-December, the egg was placed in the nest they built after the couple demonstrated that they could take care of a dummy first.
Despite being inexperienced, the two birds did a stellar job bringing their charge to hatching, Director Ted Fox said.
🐧🌈🐧 We have some very exciting news! The first chick to be fostered by a pair of same-sex penguins at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo hatched on January 1! Read the full news release here: https://t.co/NuVJMtLDde #Syracusezoo pic.twitter.com/nfbfiYL08p
— Rosamond Gifford Zoo (@SyracuseZoo) January 28, 2022