Chick Adopted By Gay Vultures Released In The Wild

Nearly a year ago, a pair of vultures at the ARTIS zoo in Amsterdam were blessed with a young chick after no one in the aviary wanted to nurse the egg. Together, the couple hatched the egg, protected the young one from others and even flew out to find food for their baby. The couple who had been in a relationship for years couldn't have their own chicks - as both of them were males. After almost of a year of sharing daddy duties together, the homosexual vulture dads bid goodbye to their young one as took its first flight in the wild. A proud day for any parent indeed.

The zoo released two young vulture chicks along with 12 adults out in the wild in the Italian island of Sardinia, a press release said. One of the chicks was nurtured by the gay dads.

Here's a video of their first flight posted by the zoo:
 

The gay papas, last year, nursed the egg when no other vulture couple wanted to.

"We climbed up the rock to take a little peek and see what happens. Then we saw this little chick moving under these brave guys, and that was an unbelievable sight," the zookeeper had said then.

Although homosexuality is quite common in birds, a same sex couple hatching an egg together is rare, the zoo said last year.

The vultures were released as part of a conservation project called Life Under Griffon Wings, the BBC reported.

The vultures were sheltered in a temporary aviary in Sardinia for months to acclimatize to the Mediterranean environment. During the initial days of their introduction to the wild, the vultures will be fed by zoo staff in a protected area.