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Lifestyle

Gay penguin couple become first-time dads at New York zoo

By
Nadine DeNinno
Published Jan. 31, 2022
Updated Jan. 31, 2022, 11:04 a.m. ET

These fellas hatched a chick.

In a first for the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York, a same-sex penguin couple hatched a baby chick, local news station 13 WHAM reported, and will now raise the chick as a pair.

The two adult male Humboldt Penguins — Elmer and Lima — became first-time dads on Jan. 1.

The zoo said Elmer and Lima formed a bond for the current breeding season and have built a home base in a nest “and defended their territory.”

“The first chick to be fostered by a pair of same-sex penguins at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo hatched on January 1,” Rosamond Gifford Zoo wrote on Facebook. “Foster parents, adult male Humboldt penguins Elmer and Lima, took turns incubating the egg and have been doing a wonderful job warming and feeding the chick since.”

The zoo has relied on foster parent penguins to incubate eggs in the past as a way to increase the odds of hatching a chick. In this case, an egg laid by female penguin Poquita and her mate Vente laid a viable egg on Dec. 23, which was swapped for a dummy egg. The viable egg was given to Elmer and Lima, which were deemed a more successful pair, to incubate.

“Some pairs, when given a dummy egg, will sit on the nest but leave the egg to the side and not incubate it correctly, or they’ll fight for who is going to sit on it when,” Zoo Director Ted Fox said in a statement. “That’s how we evaluate who will be good foster parents — and Elmer and Lima were exemplary in every aspect of egg care.”

While Rosamund Gifford Zoo has relied on this foster technique before, this same-sex foster couple marks a first for the zoo.

“Elmer and Lima’s success at fostering is one more story that our zoo can share to help people of all ages and backgrounds relate to animals,” Fox said.

As for the baby chick, Elmer and Lima are proving to be good parents indeed.

“At our first health check when the chick was five days old, it weighed 226 grams (8 ounces),” Fox added. “It continues to be brooded and cared for by both Elmer and Lima, who are doing a great job. And once they have experience doing this and continue to do it well, they will be considered to foster future eggs.”