BY: BROOKLYN PINHEIRO
A baby bird is being raised by two loving parents after being adopted by a gay griffon vulture couple at the Artis Amsterdam Royal Zoo.
After finding the abandoned egg zookeepers decided to forgo the usual practice of putting the egg in an incubator to hatch and gave it to a couple of male birds to take care of. The couple took turns keeping the egg warn until it hatched. After being born in mid May, the chick has received the best care from its adoptive parents.
Before the birth of their chick the couple was known to be close, nesting and mating together, zookeeper Job van Tol told the BBC. Everything but laying an egg together.
“It was a bit of a risk as we had no guarantee of success, but we thought, finally, this is their chance,” said Tol.
The couple has been taking their responsibility seriously and have been regurgitating food to keep their baby fed and growing.
A gay vulture couple adopted an abandoned chickThe birth of the chick came just weeks after bills passed in Texas and Alabama allowing discrimination against LGBT couples looking to adopt. It appears that the human species could take some pointers on what’s actually required to raise a kid – two parents that care, according to the example set forth by the birds.
The success isn’t too surprising considering sex roles aren’t a concern of vultures who do an equal share of providing for their young whether male or female. Having a gay bird couple in a zoo isn’t a phenomenon either since there are over a hundred different bird species that engage in same-sex relationships of some form.
The zoo also welcomed a second vulture chick in May and is planning to release the pair back into the wild once they are old and strong enough.
