Skipper and Ping, a gay emperor penguin couple at Zoo Berlin in Germany, are making international headlines after they were given an egg to try and hatch after unsuccessfully nurturing a rock and a fish.
The NYT reports: “The prospect of two gay penguins adopting an egg and raising a chick has become a feel good story in Germany in recent days. On Tuesday, penguin fans, journalists and a television crew from the country's public international broadcaster gathered to watch Ping sit on the egg.”
7 News reports: ‘Skipper and Ping came to Berlin from Hamburg's zoo in April. The two 10-year-old emperor penguins had been showing clear signs that they wanted an egg for a while. “They kept trying to hatch fish and stones,” Jaeger said. … Once they were given the real egg, the two gay penguins got straight to work. “We're not sure if the egg has been fertilised,” Jaeger explained. If it has been, then it should take around 55 days for the hatchling to emerge.'
Said Maximilian Jäger, a Zoo Berlin spokesman, to the NYT: “We just had to put the egg in front of one of them, and he knew just what to do. He took his beak and put the egg on his feet and then put his stomach over it, which is the normal thing penguins do.”
