Gay penguin couple given new egg after successfully hatching first chick
Magic and Sphen were given another egg at Sydney's Sea Life Aquarium
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
A gay penguin at Sydney’s Sea Life Aquarium have adopted another egg after successfully hatching their first chick.
Magic and Sphen – or better known as Sphenig – had always been more than friends and as breeding season approached, the couple began to collect pebbles to create a nest, which is common among Gentoo penguins.
Sphen also gave his partner a “special stone” which is reportedly the equivalent of a marriage proposal.
After seeing the couple, the aquarium decided to give them a ‘dummy egg’ to see if they would be interested and able to incubate.
The aquarium gave them a real egg and both parents take turns to incubate the egg, which is common among the breed of penguins.
Last year, the egg successfully hatched and the aquarium named the chick Sphengic.
As the new breeding season approached, the zoo keepers noticed the ‘power couple’ had started to build a new nest and they decided to give them another egg.
Penguin supervisor Tish Hannan told 10Daily: “They have the neatest and largest nest in the colony and when we noticed that another couple were struggling to incubate two eggs at the same time, we made the decision to foster the second egg to the power couple of the colony.
“Baby Sphengic… had an excellent start to life under their care and while she’s still a bundle of energy and very loud, she’s matured nicely but still quite unsure as to what all the adults are doing this breeding season.
“Sphengic may or may not have a little brother or sister in a few weeks, we’re yet to confirm if the egg is fertile.”