Gay penguin couple hatch and raise chick
Scampi and Flounder, two males, took on the parenting responsibility as 10 rare Humboldt penguin chicks were born at Chester Zoo, Cheshire, in April.
The couple stepped in to help incubate and hatch one of two eggs laid by another penguin pair called Wotsit and Peach.
Same-sex penguin relationships are not unheard of: a gay pair called Sphen and Magic rose to fame after raising two chicks at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium in 2020.
Both mother and father penguins usually take solo shifts feeding and caring for the chick, but Scampi and Flounder have taken on the role together in what the zoo described as a 'heart-warming development'.
Photos show the chicks undergoing regular weigh-ins, and are said to be just 'days away' from their first swimming lessons.
Zoe Sweetman, team manager of penguins at Chester Zoo, said: 'Ten chicks hatching in one season marks a bumper year for the penguins here.
'It's fantastic news for the species and a brilliant success for the international conservation breeding programme.
'The fluffy new arrivals are all being looked after brilliantly by their parents, having nearly quadrupled in size since they first emerged.
'They're now days away from a really exciting milestone – their very first swimming lessons, which is always a thrill to witness as they dive into the pool for the very first time.'
The highly-threatened Humboldt species is one of the most at risk of extinction out of the world's 17 species of penguin.
Bird experts shared the eggs between the two nests to help give both chicks the best possible start and help improve the chances of successful fledging.
The chicks began hatching from their eggs between April 16 and 28 and have spent their first few weeks of life tucked away in their nest burrows.
Keepers have now named eight of the penguins after constellations and celestial wonders: Ursa, Alcyone, Quasar, Orion, Dorado, Cassiopeia, Altair and Xena.
Ms Sweetman added: 'In what has been one of our long-standing traditions, each year we pick a fun theme to help name our chicks, which helps us keep track of who is who now that there are 63 penguins in the colony.
'This year we've gone with a celestial theme for naming the chicks, and we've had a lot of fun coming up with names inspired by stars, constellations and cosmic wonders.
'But we've saved the final two names for the public, who can help us choose via the zoo's social media channels.'
Humboldt penguins are listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Found on the rocky coastal shores of Peru and Chile, they face a number of threats in the wild, including climate change, overfishing and rising ocean temperatures.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
In 2025 how and when to see July's full Moon and the Delta Aquariid meteor shower
From a meteor shower, a dual display of the Moon and Mars, to a full Moon - there are an array of celestial events to look out for after dark this first happens on Friday 4 when the July night sky will bring the greatest chance of seeing the planet Mercury in 2025. It will be at its furthest distance from the Sun, making it easier to spot in the sky just after sunset. If you look towards the low western area of the horizon during twilight you should hopefully catch a glimpse of Mercury appearing to look like a small star. But be quick before it follows the Sun and dips below the skyline. Will you or won't you see the full Moon? The full Buck Moon rises on 10 July at around 22:00 BST but whether or not you get to see it depends on where you are - and the weather conditions of course. As with the other full Moons across the year, they are named after events in nature happening around the same time. This month's full Moon was named to represent the time of year when male deer, known as bucks, begin to grow their new antlers. For many it marked the start of the game hunting to the Sky at Night magazine this month's full Moon will be a low hanging one, external, meaning that in some parts of the northern hemisphere, including the UK, it might be too close to the horizon to really see it well. More meteors for July Starting on 12 July, the Delta Aquariid meteor shower begins its annual display, peaking on the nights of 28 and 29 can expect between 15 and 20 meteors an hour especially in dark-sky locations, but you'll need to be up after midnight to see them. While they're best viewed from the southern hemisphere, observers in the northern hemisphere should still catch a decent are believed to originate from Comet 96P/Machholz, a short-period comet that orbits the Sun every five years. The meteors tend to be faint, so darker skies will enhance visibility, especially around the new Moon on 24 July when it could also be possible to see parts of the Milky Way. The Moon and Mars are a double delight Just to keep you on tenterhooks you have to wait until July ends to see a striking conjunction of the Moon and Mars on 29 JulyIf you look to the eastern sky before dawn you should be able to see the waning crescent Moon closely aligned with the red skies are clear, you may be lucky enough to observe Mars and its striking reddish forget that the weather and cloud cover in your location will have an impact on what you can see, but you can check that and the sunrise/sunset times where you are on the BBC Weather app or online.
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- The Guardian
How Bridget Phillipson can improve the climate for having children
In Bridget Phillipson's proposals (Bridget Phillipson says she wants more young people in UK to have children, 30 July), a notable absence that she is well placed to address as education secretary is the anxiety felt by so many students that if they do have children in the context of accelerating climate breakdown, there won't be a livable planet for their babies to grow up in. Surveys of young people's attitudes published in the Lancet in 2021 and 2024 reveal that this is a material factor in considering whether to have children for between 38% and 52% of respondents. Given that anxiety can either transform into purposeful action or malign and perverse despair if left to fester unaddressed, the curriculum review due to report in the autumn should integrate climate education across all subjects so that all our students understand the nature of the crisis and the debates about what we can do about it. Anything less will leave them stranded with a Holocene education in an Anthropocene AtkinNational Education Union Climate Change Network Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Covid alert! New 'ultra-catchy Frankenstein' variant has rocketed four-fold in just a month...experts warn it could be most infectious yet
A new Covid variant dubbed 'Stratus' has soared to dominance in the UK, with experts warning it could drive a wave of new infections. Stratus—scientifically known as XFG—is thought to be more infectious than previous Covid strains due to mutations that help it evade the immune system. Now, data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), shows Stratus has now become the dominant Covid strain in England. The variant has gone from accounting for about 10 per cent of all Covid cases in May to almost 40 per cent three weeks later in mid-June. Stratus—a descendent of the already super virulent Omicron—is what is known as a Frankenstein or 'recombinant' strain. This means it emerged when a person was infected with two Covid strains at once which then became a new hybrid variant. Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick University told MailOnline both two strains of Stratus, the original XFG and spin off called XFG.3, are 'rapidly spreading'. 'The increased competitiveness of XFG and XFG.3 is likely due to new spike mutations which make these variants more able to evade the immune response,' he said. 'Given that immunity to Covid is waning in the population due to a decline in uptake of the spring booster jab and the reduction of Covid infections in recent months, more people will be susceptible to infection with XFG and XFG.3. 'This could lead to a new wave of infection but it's difficult to predict the extent of this wave.' However, he added that there is currently no evidence Stratus causes more severe illness and getting a Covid vaccine was 'very likely' to offer protection from severe illness and hospitalisation. Stratus' rise comes just a week after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the strain a 'variant under monitoring'. This designation means health authorities across the globe have been asked to help track the variant due its rising spread in different countries and the potential public health implications. Whilst assessing the overall risk of Stratus as 'low' the WHO said evidence pointed to the variant having significant growth advantage compared to other strains with it now accounting for 22 per cent of cases recorded globally. Nimbus—another new Covid variant also tipped to drive a wave of new infections —has also soared in recent weeks. That strain has gone from just 2 per cent of cases in April to 17 per cent in June, according to UKHSA data. However, overall Covid cases are on the decline compared to recent weeks. Just 5.4 per cent of Covid tests analysed by UKHSA in the week ending June 29 were positive for the virus. This is a slight fall from the 7 per cent of tests that came back positive the week prior, which as the highest positivity rate recorded so far this year. Neither Nimbus nor Stratus are thought to cause new symptoms compared to previous strains. However, medics have warned that anyone with a 'razor blade' throat could have Nimbus. Dr Michael Gregory, regional medical Director for NHS England in the North West recently said: 'The variant looks to be spreading rapidly within communities, with top symptoms being a "razor blade" sore throat and swollen neck glands.' But any Covid infection with the virus can still be deadly, especially for more vulnerable groups like the elderly or those with compromised immune systems.
