>>A penguin couple at a German zoo have been trying to have a baby for months—and now, they get their chance. The pair of male king penguins, Skipper and Ping, moved from Hamburg to Zoo Berlin together earlier this year. Shortly after their arrival, they started incubating everything from rocks to fish, presumably hoping for a chick.

A 22-year-old female penguin, called “The Orange” for her vivid orange coloring, recently laid an egg, but had never successfully raised a chick of her own. When she abandoned the egg, zookeepers decided to give it to Skipper and Ping, who have thoroughly demonstrated their interest and skill in incubation.

Homosexuality is common in the animal kingdom. Penguins, in particular, have become well-known for pairing up with the same sex—both in the wild in captivity. A small 2010 study of king penguins on the Antarctic island of Kerguelen found that 15 out of 53 couples studied were same-sex. The study didn’t find that these couples in the wild were too successful, only two had learned each other’s calls which is important for maintaining long term bonds, reports Smithsonian’s Brigit Katz.

In zoos, however, plenty of penguin couples have hatched eggs and cared for chicks. Zoos in the United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark and Ireland have all hosted same-sex penguin pairings that maintained long-term relationships.<<

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/two-male-penguins-berlin-join-long-line-same-sex-pairs-adopt-egg-180972924/