Penguin Pride: Same-Sex Penguin Pairs Make Devoted Parents
In 2000, two Chinstrap penguins at Central Park Zoo, USA, hatched an egg. The parents, named Roy and Silo, cared dutifully for their chick, Tango, feeding her and keeping her warm. The thing that set them apart from other penguin parents? Both penguins were male.
Roy and Silo weren’t the first same-sex penguin pair to adopt an egg, although they are possibly the most famous: a children’s book about them, And Tango Makes Three (written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson), was published in 2005 and has been the recipient of both awards and controversy. And yet zoos and aquariums around the world have observed same-sex penguins partnering up, and many have gotten the chance to be parents, with heartwarming results.
At Australia's Sea Life Sydney Aquarium, another star couple can be found. The two male Gentoo penguins, Sphen and Magic, built an impressive nest together one breeding season. Their hard work didn’t go unnoticed. When another Gentoo pair laid a second egg (which usually wouldn’t survive in the wild), keepers entrusted the bonded males to incubate it, and on October 19, 2018, baby Lara (also known as Sphengic) was born. Sphen and Magic are still together, their love growing strong, and have raised a second chick, named Clancy Carpenter.
“Sea Life Melbourne [in Australia] has had many same-sex couples in our breeding history and they have been doting parents.”
Wingham Wildlife park in the UK has Humboldt penguins Jumbs and Kermit. New York Aquarium has African penguins Wendell and Cass. In an article for The Guardian, lead bird keeper Tanith Davis explains, “Sea Life Melbourne [in Australia] has had many same-sex couples in our breeding history and they have been doting parents.”
Gender roles aren’t strongly defined for penguins in the wild. Parents take turns sitting on the egg, and later, bringing food to the young chick. In that case, is it any surprise that a devoted same-sex penguin couple could become equally devoted parents when given the chance?
In the penguin world, one thing seems true: love is love.
Love That Dare Not Squeak Its Name — The New York Times
Same-Sex Penguin Power Couple: Sphen and Magic — Sea Life Sydney Aquarium
Smitten Same-Sex Penguins Couple Up During Nesting Season at Melbourne Aquarium — The Guardian