While Toronto breaks up their gay penguins, China gives theirs a chick

An African penguin similar to Pedro & Buddy. (photo by BrokenSphere via Wikimedia.org)

After the Toronto Zoo broke up the couple of endangered African penguins in and effort to encourage them to breed for the sake of their species, both Buddy and Pedro quickly became interested in courting female penguins at the zoo.

According to the Toronto Star, Buddy has already successfully mated with a female penguin, while Pedro is still courting the object of his affection.

Sadly, however, the two former flames actually began fighting over territorial squabbles in the nesting area, according to the Star.

“[T]here could have been serious injuries if not for a mesh between the nests,” the Star reports of the fight.

MORE IN THE BLADE: BACKGROUND ON THE BUDDY & PEDRO SAGA

However, in China, a captive pair of penguins, who were “married” by their zoo in 2009 in a ceremony, have been given a baby penguin chick to rear after a mother in the flock unexpectedly hatched twins. The pair, located at Harbin Polar Land in northern China are experienced parents, having been called upon by the zoo in the past to care for eggs abandoned by mothers. Prior to their foster parent responsibilities, the pair had been caught attempting to steal eggs from other nests during hatching season, according to Metro.