Remember the gay penguins that got ejected from their colony because they were trying to steal eggs from other penguins? Well, the zookeepers gave the couple two eggs laid by an inexperienced penguin mom ... and it turns out they became the best parents in the zoo!
'We decided to give them two eggs from another couple whose hatching ability had been poor and they've turned out to be the best parents in the whole zoo,' said one of the keepers.
'It's very encouraging and if this works out well we will try to arrange for them to become real parents themselves with artificial insemination.'
Wildlife experts at the park explain that despite being gay the three-year-old male birds are still driven by an urge to be fathers.
'One of the responsibilities of being a male adult is looking after the eggs. Despite the fact that they can't have eggs naturally, it does not take away their biological drive to be a parent,' said one.
(Not that there's anything wrong with that.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qf0puHJ-KM&feature=related
Not that I'm taking a side either way, but it's worth pointing out that it's hardly the objective claim I would expect from zookeepers or a newspaper article. They should at least cite some behaviors, things the gay penguins are doing that are "better" than the other penguin parents, to make the statement credible. Just my two cents.
December 19th, 2008 at 7:07 am
I wonder just how artificial insemination will help two male penguins become parents ??"
"DOJ
December 19th, 2008 at 7:28 am
@Jane - we’re all puzzled"
Yes. So easy to become puzzled as males are NEVER used in the process of procreation. There's no way to create a fertilized egg through the process of artificial insemination. Nope.
You two are morons.
Perhaps they could have just said "two male penguins" rather than "two gay penguins", since it's probably more anthropomorphism than actual fact. But then, we wouldn't be discussing it if they weren't "gay".
And, vanderleun, I would venture to say that not all the news about gay issues is good news. People are still being persecuted and viciously attacked because of their sexuality. I hope you see something wrong with that, vanderleun.
Well it's probably the same way that humans same sex couples use artificial insemination to become parents -- the zoo keepers will take sperm from a male and impregnate a female penguin. I'd assume that they'd use the same female so that the penguin off spring would be half siblings.
Vanderleun: we get a lot of bad press.