Gay Vultures Become Proud Daddies After Hatching Abandoned Egg

The ARTIS Zoo in Amsterdam has a new family member - a baby Griffon vulture. But the story of how the vulture baby came to the world is even more incredible. The egg was hatched by a male same sex vulture couple at the zoo.

"We have had them for some years. They always build a nest together, bond and mate together. But, as two males, the one thing they could not do was lay an egg," zookeeper Job Van Tol told BBC.

The two vultures have been living at the zoo since 2010 and have been in a long standing relationship for years. The egg was found in the aviary with no one nursing it. When the zookeepers couldn't find any couple at the zoo to nurse the egg, they decided to place it in the male couple's nest.

"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 said.

So, how have the couple divided the baby duties? Zookeeper Job Van Told told CBC that one of them stays in the nest to keep the chick warm and protects it from others. The other goes out to find food for the 20-day-old chick, he said.

Here's a video of the young one with one of the daddies



According to the zoo, while homosexuality is quite common in the animal world, especially in birds. it's rare for a same sex couple to hatch an egg.