‘Gay flamingos’ hatch eggs at UK zoo

A pair of male flamingos, Curtis and Arthur, have successfully hatched an egg at Devon Zoo, UK.

Same-sex paternity is a “known phenomenon” among this Chilean-born flamingo species and other flocks, says aviculturist Pete Smallbones. The egg was likely “abandoned by another pair and adopted by this one.”

What are already known as the first ‘gay flamingos’ to adopt young on British soil has left the zoo team ‘satisfied with this year’s breeding programme so far’, as the species is in decline in the wild due to factors such as egg collecting, disturbance from tourism and habitat degradation from mining.