Penguins!!!

If you take a walk in Edinburgh Zoo at about 2pm, you may witness the march of the penguins. Not the movie, but literally, the march of the penguins. The zoo opened its doors to the public in 1914 and were supplied with penguins. On one fine day in 1919, the zoo keeper fed the penguins in their enclosure and headed back to his quarters. Unknown to him he was being followed. Many of the zoo goers were very amused by what they saw that day. The zookeeper had forgotten to close the door to the penguin's enclosure and the penguins decided to take a walk. With their little feet, they waddled after the zoo keeper whom they equated to be the source of food. So many people loved the parade of the penguins, the zoo decided to keep it so everyday (weather permitting) between April and October, the penguins would come out to waddle up the paths for a walk.

Penguins really are adorable creatures. What's also quite fascinating about them is they are documented to be monogamous creatures. They stay with their partners for life. Another interesting fact is that there are quite a few penguins in homosexual relationships. It is well documented that there are gay penguins and some of these 'couples' have been in monogamous relationships for up to 8 years! Take Cass and Wendell for example. They live at the New York Aquarium in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

This is not unusual. There are a lot of animals that have same-sex relations, it's just that people don't know about it. A book by Bruce Bagemihl, "Biological Exuberance," published in 1999, documents homosexual behavior in more than 450 animal species. The list includes apes, grizzly bears, dolphins, gorillas, flamingos, owls and even several species of salmon.

But can you imagine little gay penguins? AaAawWww... how sswwweetttt...

At the Central Park Zoo, Silo and Roy, two male Chinstrap penguins, have been in an exclusive relationship for six years. Once, they even fostered an egg together. They were given an egg to foster after they were found to have adopted a rock and protected it like an egg. They got all excited about it and they did a really good job bringing up the chick. However, recently in September, Scrappy, a new penguin caught Silo's eye and he decided to go straight with her. This puzzled many zookeepers. Proves that even some penguins are scum. However, "the real revelation in this story is that Tango, the female child they fathered together (after kind zoo officials replaced the rock they were nurturing with a real egg), has paired up with another female named Tazuni."(towleroad).

So what do you think? Aren't penguins fabulous creatures? *penguin waddle*