Canada’s gay penguins to be reunited by spring
A pair of African penguins snooze at Boulders Beach near Simon’s Town, South Africa.
The Toronto Zoo has said that its gay penguins, Buddy and Pedro, will be reunited by the spring of next year.
Buddy and Pedro are African penguins that had "pair bonded" before their arrival at the zoo in Canada.
The zoo's decision to separate the two penguins had caused a bit of an uproar.
According to the Globe and Mail:
In a bizarre case showing how political the issue remains – even after same-sex marriage has been legalized in Canada and in nine other countries – controversy is reverberating over the zoo’s decision to break up a close relationship between two male penguins.
There are fewer than 250,000 penguins left in their species, so the zoo said it needs Buddy and Pedro to help produce offspring.
The zoo's bird curator, Tom Mason, told Pink News that: “The population is good but we have to be careful to ensure that all individuals or as many as possible have genetic representation within the community. This will maximize the chances of survival of the population.”
But, if the couple wished to get back together at the end of the mating period, “they will be welcome to do so," Mason said.
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