A same-sex couple of penguins in the New York Zoo hatched a chick: how is this possible

Meet the State's New Proud Penguin Fathers New York. Elmer and Lima, two adult male Humboldt penguins at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, reports Daily News. The couple welcomed their first chick earlier this month, the zoo said in a press release on Jan. 28.

Elmer who hatched in zoo in 2016, and his partner, Lima, hatched in 2019, are two of the zoo's 28 penguin colony. They mate in autumn, during the current breeding season.

According to the zoo, the team observed that the two had built a nest and were defending their territory. After that, they decided to test their parenting abilities.

In the past, at least two pairs of penguins have broken fertilized eggs at the zoo. Therefore, sometimes the team has to rely on foster parents.

“Some pairs, given a fake egg, will sit in the nest but leave the egg aside and not incubate it properly, or fight over who sits on it and when,” zoo director Ted Fox said. “This is how we evaluate who will be good adoptive parents. Elmer and Lima were exemplary in every aspect of egg care."

On the subject: A unique kangaroo was born at the New York zoo: the only such kangaroo in North America

On December 23, the team determined that an egg laid by female penguin Poquita and her partner, Vente, contained a viable embryo. They decide to trade it for a fake egg and give Elmer and Lima the opportunity to incubate it.

It was a marriage made in penguin heaven

According to Fox, they "did a great job" taking turns incubating the egg until it hatched.

Since the new chick hatched on January 1, they have been incubating (warming) and feeding it.

"At our first check healthwhen the chick was five days old, it weighed 226 grams (8 ounces), he said. “He continues to be taken care of by both Elmer and Lima, who are doing an excellent job. And as soon as they have experience in this, they will be considered as carrying future eggs, ”Fox added.

Humboldt penguins live in the Humboldt Current off the coast of Chile and Peru in South America. They are listed as "Vulnerable" according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's 2020 assessment. Their population in the wild is currently "decreasing".

The Rosamond Gifford Zoo is not the first institution to have had success with same-sex egg-incubating pairs of penguins.

In 2020, zookeepers at the Oceanogràfic Valencia Aquarium in Spain announced the addition of 25 gentoo penguins to their colony. Elektra and Viola, a female couple, become parents for the first time after incubating and incubating a foster egg.

Other notable same-sex penguin parents include Skipper and Ping, a pair of male king penguins from the Berlin Zoo. Eduardo and Rio, a pair of male Magellanic penguins at the San Francisco Zoo. Sphene and Magic, a pair of penguins who are the loving parents of an egg laid by a careless heterosexual couple at Sydney's Sea Life Aquarium in Australia.

Their first chick, Lara, hatched in 2018. Two years later, they adopted another egg, resulting in Clancy's birth.

In November 2021, the couple celebrated their third anniversary with worldwide headlines, likes on social media. They celebrated the anniversary with a frozen fish cake that they shared with their friends in the colony.