Broody male penguin couple adopt abandoned egg at Berlin Zoo

Penguin Ping is fed by an animal keeper in the Berlin Zoo, Germany, August 9, 2019. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

BERLIN (Reuters) - A pair of male king penguins at Berlin Zoo are fulfilling a long-standing ambition to become parents, by adopting an egg abandoned by its mother.

Ten-year-olds Skipper and Ping had previously displayed their instincts as nurturers by trying to hatch stones and even fish, a zoo spokesman said.

Their encounter with the real thing came last month after a king penguin mother abandoned an egg - and they jumped at the chance.

A penguin swims in a pool at Berlin Zoo, Germany, August 9, 2019. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

"We just had to put it in front of one of the males. He immediately knew what to do. This is the first time we have tried to have a same-sex penguin couple incubate an egg," keeper Norbert Zahmel said.

So far the surrogacy seems to have worked out. "Both are looking after the egg in an exemplary manner," he told local newspaper B.Z.

In the wild, traditional king penguin couples share incubation duties.

Ping and Skipper, a couple of gay penguins, who have adopted an egg abandoned by its mother, are pictured in the Berlin Zoo, in Berlin, Germany, August 9, 2019. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

If things continue to go well and the egg proves to be fertile, Skipper and Ping should become proud parents by early September.

(Reporting by Michael Nienaber, editing by John Stonestreet)

Penguin Ping (left) is seen in the Berlin Zoo, Germany, August 9, 2019. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

A penguin swims in a pool at Berlin Zoo, Germany, August 9, 2019. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

Ping and Skipper, a couple of gay penguins, who have adopted an egg abandoned by its mother, are pictured in the Berlin Zoo, in Berlin, Germany, August 9, 2019. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

Ping and Skipper, a couple of gay penguins, who have adopted an egg abandoned by its mother, are pictured amongst other penguins in the Berlin Zoo, in Berlin, Germany, August 9, 2019. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

A penguin swims in a pool at Berlin Zoo, Germany, August 9, 2019. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse