Same-Sex Penguin Couple Welcomes Their First Baby

Bust out a big ol bucket of celebratory fish!

A same-sex gentoo penguin couple has welcomed the birth of their first baby, er, chick, together, Australias Sea Life Sydney Aquarium announced Thursday.

BABY SPHENGIC IS HERE! Born Friday 19th October @ 5:46pm, weighing just 91g! Gender TBC in 2 months. Both dads are doing well and are so in love with their precious bub. Full story: https://t.co/3Nllhq3N3o #BabySphengic pic.twitter.com/yESrjbLXqI

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BABY SPHENGIC IS HERE! Born Friday 19th October @ 5:46pm, weighing just 91g! Gender TBC in 2 months. Both dads are doing well and are so in love with their precious bub. Full story: https://t.co/3Nllhq3N3o #BabySphengic pic.twitter.com/yESrjbLXqI
Sea Life Sydney Aquarium (@Sydney_Aquarium) October 26, 2018

Dads Sphen and Magic, a couple known as Sphengic, were given an egg that they incubated and protected for nearly five weeks in their nest. The little fluffball hatched last week and weighed 3.2 ounces. Its sex is to be determined a blood test will be administered when its a bit older.

It was born on Friday afternoon and weighs 91 grams. Gender will be known in two months. pic.twitter.com/Vu7xe9ZNo3

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It was born on Friday afternoon and weighs 91 grams. Gender will be known in two months. pic.twitter.com/Vu7xe9ZNo3
Jamie McKinnell (@jamie86) October 26, 2018

Tish Hannan, the supervisor of the aquariums penguin department, was delighted by the way the lovebirds are caring for their new bundle of joy.

The first day, the younger of the two males was an absolute star, he fed the chick a lot, Hannan told ABC . The older male looked a bit disinterested at first, but as soon as he got on the chick he did an amazing job as well, so we are really, really proud of them both.

The baby is also the aquarium's first sub-Antarctic penguin chick. pic.twitter.com/0LG6IE5YYN

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The baby is also the aquarium's first sub-Antarctic penguin chick. pic.twitter.com/0LG6IE5YYN
Jamie McKinnell (@jamie86) October 26, 2018

The egg was given to Sphengic from another couple that laid two during the 2018 breeding season. According to a press release from the aquarium, gentoo penguins, which live mostly on sub-Antarctic islands, only have enough resources to care for one of their two eggs in the wild. The backup chick often dies, and the aquarium found giving the extra egg to Sphengic was the best option for its survival.

Magic and Sphen, Sydneys same-sex penguin couple are given an egg to incubate https://t.co/ocYmWTZv1Y Via @ReutersTV pic.twitter.com/dtTqc74Nt3

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Magic and Sphen, Sydneys same-sex penguin couple are given an egg to incubate https://t.co/ocYmWTZv1Y Via @ReutersTV pic.twitter.com/dtTqc74Nt3
Reuters Top News (@Reuters) October 25, 2018

The first 20 days of a gentoo penguin chicks life are extremely vulnerable and it depends on its parents to keep it healthy, which means itll be fed up to 10 times a day. Gentoo parents keep their eggs warm on pebble nesting rings, rather than with their feet like king penguins do, and take turns incubating the nest and keeping guard, warding off predators, overly inquisitive neighbors and pebble-stealers.

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Hannan told ABC that gentoo penguins have a strong urge to be parents regardless of gender and that same-sex coupling within the species is not uncommon.

Yet, male-male couples rarely get the opportunity to be parents.

With female-female pairs, what will happen is those females will actually go off and mate with males and come back and lay eggs and both females will raise the chicks, she said. With the two males, sometimes theyll try and steal eggs that are unoccupied, so it can happen but its not very likely.

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