Same-Sex Penguin Couple Become New Parents After Hatching Adopted Egg

• Two female penguins in Valencia, Spain’s Oceanografic Aquarium have become new parents after successful hatching an adopted egg.
• The story went viral online after the aquarium wrote a blog and shared some photos of the adorable family.
• According to Oceanografic, this is the first time something like this happened on their aquarium.

Two female penguins from in Spain recently made headlines after becoming parents to a newly-hatched egg.

Penguins Electra and Viola of Valencia’s Oceanografic Aquarium have adopted another couple’s egg after the aquarium crew members placed it in their nest.

Electra and Viola have been described as an “exceptional pair.”

In a recent blog post dated August 17, 2020, the aquarium shared that the two female penguins have been able to “adopt, hatch and raise an egg from another couple, something that’s happened for the first time at the Oceanografic.”

“Welcome to the world, little one!”

As of the moment, the newborn chick remains unnamed. We learn, however, that it is one of the three born out of the 25 Gentoo penguins currently at Oceanografic.

According to the staff, Electra and Viola have been spotted creating their own nest using stones and so they decided to move a fertile egg there to begin the breeding process.

Of course, Oceanografic was quick to point out that same-gender couples is actually not very rare in some animals.

“The formation of same-sex pairs is common in more than 450 species of animals and occurs both in zoos and in nature,” their website pointed out.

But since it’s the first time something like this happened in the aquarium, then it’s definitely worth-celebrating.

No wonder the story immediately went viral online as it has been picked up by several news outlets including the Daily Mail, Independent, People, and many others.