penguins, gay penguins — Image: Odense Zoo

Two male penguins took a chick under their wings — not knowing that its parents were searching for it.

Denmark’s Odense Zoo observed that the young penguin was “kidnapped” by the gay couple while it was left alone, reports DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation). Animal keeper Sandie Hedegård Munck explained that the mother was probably being bathed while the father was left to watch their child.

Munck theorizes that the chick was left alone, and that’s when the doting penguins swooped in to adopt it. She noted that the gay penguins may have taken pity on the youngling.

She said of the two straight penguins, the female is more caring and even shows aggression if people come too close to her child. On the other hand, the male is more lenient about protecting their chick.

The kidnapping saga was captured in two videos on the zoo’s Facebook page. The second video shows the two penguin couples confronting one another as the gay couple guarded the chick. A zookeeper’s hand is seen transferring the chick to its biological parents.

The zoo said it would have allowed the gay penguins to keep the chick if the parents had not looked for it.

It was still a happy ending for the male penguins: they were provided a true crack at parenthood with an egg from a female penguin who could not care for it. Niña V. Guno/JB

Penguin swims 8,000 km every year to reunite with human savior and friend