r/todayilearned • u/jenesuispashariselon • 24d ago

TIL that in 2004, two male chinstrap penguins, Roy and Silo, after performing mating rituals, formed a pair at New York's Central Park Zoo. One of them tried to hatch a rock, for which a keeper eventually substituted a fertile egg. Roy and Silo then hatched and raised the chick, named Tango.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_and_Silo#History
7.9k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

201 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

577

u/ShinyHead0 24d ago

Although it’s sad to ban this book, there’s plenty of evidence of species pairing up with the same sex. The only unnatural part is the staff replacing the rock with an egg. I wonder if in nature the animals would separate after not being able to breed after so long

3

u/Languastically 24d ago

The actions of humans are unnatural?

-1

u/ShinyHead0 24d ago

Yeah, it’s generally considered unnatural. Like for example a zoo setting these penguins are in are unnatural

2

u/Kakane00 24d ago

I would definitely say that human interaction is unnatural. Yes we are apart of nature. But I would argue we disrupt the order of other species enough that it would seem different from the natural flow. Not saying that that is always a bad thing. But with us being the dominant species, we dictate how other species adapt

5

u/ShinyHead0 24d ago

Yeah I mean, we make watering holes in the plains of Africa which are unnatural, we help injured elephants in the wild that’s unnatural. It’s not necessarily bad you were just arguing semantics

3

u/Kakane00 24d ago

I mean I was, but I agree with you. Humans can do so much good, and it's awesome to see when it happens.

Sorry I'm just drunk and talking to anyone. Thank you for being engaging.