Gay penguins 'best parents in zoo' after adopting chick
Two gay penguins at a Kent wildlife park have been dubbed the 'best parents in the zoo' after adopting a young chick when its parents abandoned it.
Male Humboldt penguins Jumbs and Kermit, who have been inseparable since 2012, stepped in when the chick's father refused to incubate it.
Since then they have been spotted feeding it and even operating a shift system to look after it.
The month-old chick, which is yet unnamed, now weights a healthy 500g and staff at Wingham Wildlife Park said the whole family are 'doing well.'
Before the chick was born Jumbs and Kermit would not stop squabbling so zoo staff placed a dummy egg in the nest to see how they would react.
When male and female penguins Hurricane and Isobel rejected their real egg the gay penguins took on their parenting roles.
A zoo spokesman said: "The one month old baby is showing that these two penguins are excellent surrogate parents, and dare we say some of the best penguin parents we have here.
"They are doing very well and we have our fingers crossed that their chick will grow up to join the rest of our group in a couple of months."
Park owner Tony Binskin said: "At first we were apprehensive and prepared to go in and remove the baby or assist the new foster parents by supplementing their feed.
"But having such good surrogate parents available should we need them is a huge bonus for us."