FYEAH, STRANGE FINDS!

Same Sex Penguin Couple

Harry and Pepper are a pair of adorable male Magellan penguins at the San Francisco Zoo. The couple’s relationship began in 2003, and they were together for the last 6 years. The two black-and-white birds paired off when outgoing Harry befriended Pepper, an introvert who sticks mostly to his burrow. At the time, the two were adolescents and everyone assumed they were just friends. But soon they were nesting together. Harry would gather grass and bring it home to Pepper, who would arrange it tidily in their burrow. Single females would come around, but both birds never seemed interested.

They even adopted an egg together in 2008, as the pair was allowed to incubate and hatch an egg another penguin had laid. “Of all of the parents that year, they were the best,” Brown said. “They took very good care of their chick. He ended up being the largest chick on the island.” Sadly the happy couple broke up in 2009.