In a wonderful display of love and devotion, Curtis and Arthur, a Chilean flamingo couple at Paignton Zoo in Devon, UK, have successfully hatched a chick. This incredible event marks the first successful hatching of a Chilean flamingo chick at the Zoo since 2018.
Pete Smallbones, the zoo’s bird curator, said: Shared the excitement“Although same-sex parenting is a known phenomenon in Chilean flamingos and other bird flocks, it is not fully understood how it occurred. The most likely scenario is that the eggs were abandoned by another couple and this pair adopted them.”
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Curtis and Arthur are taking part in a project inspired by the reality TV show Love Lagoon. Love Island The aim is to better document the flamingo couple’s social media updates and capture the public’s attention.
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Paignton Zoo launched a special Valentine’s Day campaign earlier this year, inviting the public to name a flamingo. The ‘Name a Flamingo’ campaign was a huge hit, with names suggested and voted for on the zoo’s Instagram channel. Other flamingo couples who have successfully hatched chicks include Florence and Flame, Frenchie and Del, and Flossie and Landau.
Paignton Zoo’s breeding programme really demonstrates the avian team’s dedication to combating these issues and ensuring the survival of the species. Native to South America, Chilean flamingos face several threats in the wild, including egg collection, disturbance from tourism and habitat degradation due to industrial mining activities.
“This is testament to the skill and hard work of the bird team and we hope to see many more eggs hatching in the coming days and weeks,” Smallbones added.
Related:
Can flamingos be gay?
While it may be ironic that a flock of flamingos is called “Flamboyance,” this isn’t the first time a same-sex pair of birds has become parents: In 2022, two gay flamingo dads at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in the UK adopted a chick that had been abandoned by its biological parents.
Childless gay couple Freddie Mercury and Lance Bass also made headlines in 2022 when they split after three years of dating.
Same-sex behavior is not unique to flamingos. Many birdsPenguins (such as Sphene and Magic) and swans (such as Billy and Elliot) also exhibit homosexual behavior. These observations highlight the diversity of animal behavior and call into question the idea that heterosexuality is the only natural sexual orientation in the animal kingdom.
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