SYRACUSE, New York (WWNY) – The Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse has its first penguin chick hatched by a same-sex pair.
The new chick hatched on January 1st to two male Humboldt Penguins.
The same-sex foster couple are a first for the zoo which has relied on foster parents to incubate eggs in the past.
The zoo has at least two breeding pairs of penguins with a history of inadvertently breaking their fertilized eggs.
So to give the eggs a better chance of hatching a chick, keepers may give the egg to a more successful pair to incubate.
The zoo joined the Species Survival Plan for Humboldt Penguins in 2005 with the opening of its penguin coast exhibit.
It has since hatched more than 55 penguin chicks.
Copyright 2022 WWNY. All rights reserved.
