Same-sex penguin couple welcomes baby chick after adopting and hatching an egg together
by: Ronnie Das
A pair of female penguins at an aquarium in Spain have welcomed a baby chick, the Oceanogràfic València aquarium announced this month.
Electra and Viola's adoption is a first for the Oceanogràfic València, which called the couple "an exceptional pair."
The two penguins adopted an egg from another penguin couple, incubated and hatched it, and will now raise the chick, the aquarium said in a press release.
Penguins normally lay two eggs at a time. Each parent takes turns incubating the egg in the nest which takes 38 days to hatch. Once the chicks are born, they usually take 75 days to become independent.
More than 450 species of animals form same-sex partnerships, according to Oceanogràfic València.
In 2018, two male penguins at the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium in Australia welcomed a baby of their own, according to a report by CBS News.
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