Same sex penguins couple raising rare girls in the United Kingdom Zoo

Scampi and Fleunder, a pair of male Humboldt penguins, are taking a step forward to raise a girl in the Chester zoo in the United Kingdom.

The girl is one of the 10 born during what the manager of the Zoo Zoo Sweetman described in a press release on Thursday as a “year of bumper for penguins here.” Humboldt penguins are one of the 17 most species of penguins at risk in the world and are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. There are now 63 penguins in the colony in the zoo.

The torque of Wotsit and Peach penguins put two of the eggs that hatched this year, according to the zoo. The zoo experts shared the eggs between the nests of Wotsit and Peach and Scampi and Fleinder.

“Zoological bird experts carefully shared the eggs between the two nests to help give both chicks the best possible start and help improve the chances of successful breach,” the zoo wrote in the press release.

Penguin eggs are incubated for about 40 days and, once an egg occurs, it takes about three days before the chick hatch.

While a zoo spokesman said that Scampi and Fleupender have never ecclosed and raised to a chick before, Penguin same sex couples They are not unknown. In 2018, Two male penguins In the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium in Australia he plotted a chick, and then in 2020, a pair of female penguins in an aquarium in Spain welcomed a chick. In 2022, a male penguin Couple in a zoo in New York The State became parents.

Penguin parents share food and parenting duties. Chester Zoological Guardians provide fish, that parents swallow and mix with a “protein rich soup”, which regurgitate to feed the chicks, according to the zoo.

Eight of the 10 penguins hatched in the Chester Zoo this year have been named in the weeks since they hatched in April.

“This year we have gone with a heavenly theme to name the chicks and we have fun a lot inventing names inspired by stars, constellations and cosmic wonders,” Sweetman said.

The zoo is taking suggestions in social networks before deciding on the names of two of the chicks, but has appointed the others: Ursa, Alcyone, Quasar, Orion, Dorado, Cassiopeia, Altair and Xena. Scampi and Flounder’s Chick will have their name on social networks. The zoo has not specified whether the chick is a man or woman.

Since their births, the spongy penguin chicks have almost quadrupled in size, according to the zoo.

“Today they are away from a really exciting milestone: their first swimming lessons, which is always exciting to witness while they immerse themselves in the pool for the first time,” Sweetman said.

Humboldt penguins, native to South America, are vulnerable to Climate change and loss of habitat, according to the zoo. The population number has decreased by around 85% in the last 40 years.

“The Penguin colony in the Chester Zoo plays a vital role in the international reproduction program for the species, helping to maintain a genetically healthy population in conservation zoos throughout Europe,” according to the zoo.

Humboldt penguins are carnivores, who eat small fish and crustaceans, according to the zoo. They spend up to 75% of their lives in the water. They usually live from 12 to 15 years, but they can live up to 20 years in human care.

Many penguins are monogamous, according to the zoo.

• Penguin
• United Kingdom