Well, here’s some good news.
As reported by CBS News, Magic and Sphen, the two male penguins who made headlines earlier this month when it was reported they were incubating an egg, have welcomed their adopted baby into the world.
Sphengic, as the same-sex celebrity penguin couple are called, became close during breeding season. The staff at Sea Life Aquarium Sydney gave the couple a dummy egg as an experiment. Magic and Sphen incubated the egg in their pebble nest. As is the norm for penguin couples, they’d swap roles daily: one penguin would sit on the egg while the other roamed the perimeter for danger.
The staff at the aquarium were so impressed by their commitment that they took a chance in giving them a real egg.
Sea Life Sydney wrote on its website:
"They were absolute naturals and displayed great care for their egg, so much so, the team at Sea Life Sydney fostered a real egg to them from another couple who had two.”
On Friday, the baby penguin hatched. For now, it’s been given its parents’ portmanteau, Sphengic, as a name.
Congratulations to the happy couple!
h/t: CBS News