Gay penguins steal eggs from straight penguins at the zoo

A pair of gay penguins in a Chinese zoo have been trying to steal eggs to become fathers.

A zookeeper at Polar Land in Harbin said the couple had the natural urge to become parents.

“One of the responsibilities of being a male adult is looking after the eggs,” they said.

“Despite this being a biological impossibility for this couple, the natural desire is still there.”

The penguins have been attempting to hide their theft by replacing the stolen eggs with stones. The other penguins have noticed and ostracised the gay couple.

Keepers have decided to segregate the gay birds to prevent their desire to adopt an egg from disrupting the rest of the community during hatching season.

“It’s not discrimination,” they said. “We have to fence them separately, otherwise the whole group will be disturbed during hatching time.”

Numerous animals can be gay, and queer penguins have been in the news before.

Several same-sex penguin couples have been allowed to adopt eggs in zoo settings, including a pair in the UK who keepers called “two of the best penguin parents we have had” in 2014.