Gay penguins in baby theft shock

[n2doc]

A gay couple in China, desperate for a child of their own, have resorted to preying on the infants of straight folks. Those involved live at a zoo in the northern city of Harbin.

They are penguins.


The two birds were trying to cover their theft by placing stones at the feet of the parents, but they weren’t fooled for a minute.

Zoo staff said the other penguins eventually began to ostracise the gay couple from the group.

And in order to protect the animals from frustration during the breeding season, animal keepers decided to keep the odd couple apart from the others.

Apparently the two penguins involved were very eager to have offspring, despite their sexual preferences.

"One of the responsibilities of being a male adult is looking after the eggs. Despite this being a biological impossibility for this couple, the natural desire is still there," a keeper told the Austrian Times newspaper.

http://www.russiatoday.com/features/news/33951

[yardwork]

1. Why doesn't the zoo just give them a couple of eggs to raise?

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

2. Probably a strict anti-gay penguin adoption regulation.

Seriously though, there's probably some desire on the part of the zookeepers not to want to upset the other parents. I've only read about cases of "gay" penguins raising young when the young was already orphaned.

Penguins are interesting creatures.

[yardwork]

5. It is very interesting.

[shireen]

10. they should. It was done for 2 male vultures, and they successfully raised chicks.

It's a pretty neat story,
http://www.cnn.com/NATURE/9909/18/gay.vulture.parents/index.html

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Zoo keepers involved in an ambitious breeding program for endangered Griffin vultures are getting a helping hand from a vulture couple that, ironically, doesn't breed.

Keepers noticed that Dashik and Yahuda, two male vultures at Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, had built a nest together and were mating. So they decided to give the couple an artificial egg to see what would happen.

"They were sitting incubating perfectly," said the zoo's head keeper, Itzik Yadid. "If they are incubating so good, sharing between the two of them, the next step will be obviously to give them a chick to raise."

So far, Dashik and Yahuda have raised two baby birds, Diva and Adi Gordon, with results that exceeded expectations

....

[Ediacara]

11. Maybe there aren't any spares to give them?

[DoctorMyEyes]

3. How intelligent is that?

That they are able to think and plan well enough to try replacing the eggs they've stolen with stones?

[amdezurik]

4. sadly, smarter then our lame-duck prez...

[TechBear_Seattle]

6. So even animals can have a sexual "preference," eh?

I'm curious as to when they decided to be gay.

[n2doc]

7. It was them darn gay penguin teachers!

And Penguin-scout leaders! The great Awk in the sky said so!

[TZ]

8. So much for homosexual behavior being unnatural!

As I've said for years, this behavior is fairly well known in birds, but of course fundies don't want to hear that

[laconicsax]

9. zOMG!!1 teh gay are going to steel ur childrun!!111

[moggie]

12. Somebody tell the Mormons, quick! n/t