Zoo tempts gay penguins to go straight

02/15/2005 Update - German zoo says penguins can stay gay

This is kind of a cute story about pairs of gay penguins. The zoo keepers have been wondering why no little penguins are coming along. It turns out the the majority of the penguin pairs are gay. And yes, I do happen to think that they are a very handsome gay couple, for penguins.

A German zoo has imported four female penguins from Sweden in an effort to tempt its gay penguins to go straight.

The four Swedish females were dispatched to the Bremerhaven Zoo in Bremen after it was found that three of the zoo's five penguin pairs were homosexual.

Keepers at the zoo ordered DNA tests to be carried out on the penguins after they had been mating for years without producing any chicks.

It was only then they realized that six of the birds were living in homosexual partnerships. [...]

But introducing the Bremerhaven penguins to their new Swedish friends may not be as successful as hoped after earlier experiments revealed great difficulties in separating homosexual couples.

In case they show no interest, the zoo has also flown in two new male penguins “so that the ladies don't miss out altogether”, Kueck added. (source)

After trying to get them to mate, there were protests from gay and lesbian groups. We know what persecution feels like. The penguins are just being who they are. I say, leave them alone!

A plan by a German zoo to test the sexual appetites of a group of suspected homosexual penguins has sparked outrage among gay and lesbian groups, who fear zookeepers might force them to turn straight.

“All sorts of gay and lesbian associations have been e-mailing and calling in to protest,” said a spokesman for the zoo in the northwestern city of Bremerhaven on Friday. [...]

“Nobody here is trying to break-up same sex pairs by force,” the zoo’s director Heike Kueck told public broadcaster NDR. “We don’t know if the three male pairs are really gay or just got together because of a lack of females.” (source)

And finally, the results of trying to get the gay male penguins to mate with females. I found this under a headline called “Penguins stay fairy” from an Australian news source. And yes, I do find the title offensive.

The female penguins were flown in especially from Sweden in an effort to encourage the Humboldt penguins at Bremerhaven Zoo to reproduce.

But the six homosexual birds showed no interest in their new companions and remained faithful to each other.

Zoo director Heike Kueck said: “The relationships were apparently too strong.”

A keeper confirmed that the male couples had adopted rocks, which they guarded like eggs in their caves. (source)

I say, take some of the rocks away, and give them some real eggs so they can adopt their own little ones. I bet they would make good parents.