There are the stories we report because they’re important; there are the ones we report because they’re hilarious; and then there’s the one want to share because it comes with a picture of a happy penguin couple so adorable that looking at them will make you smile all day long.
This is that story.
Time’s NewsFeed reports that when China’s Harbin Polar Land zoo discovered it had a pair of gay male penguins, animal caretakers not only didn’t separate them for mating purposes (as the Toronto Zoo did with theirs), they threw them a fancy wedding. Further, they are making their tale of domestic bliss complete by giving them a chick to raise.
Adam and Steve (as NewsFeed dubs them … their real names are 0310 and 067) had tried to steal eggs from other couples during hatching season (wow … and we thought we were the only species to get what one friend calls “baby rabies,” the rabid desire to be a mom). So when they found a mother of twins who was “struggling to keep up with her parenting duties,” they decided to let Adam and Steve help out and give them “the baby they were looking for.”
All penguins have parenting instincts and both sexes share these responsiblities, so chances seem good that little ... whatever this tiny tot’s name is ... Cain … Abel … 0493 … will do just fine.