SAN FRANCISCO, July 13, 2009

Male Penguin Couple Splits Over Female

In San Francisco Zoo, Linda Comes Between Harry and Pepper, Who Were Item for 6 Years

  • Harry and Pepper, male couple in San Franciso Zoo who've broken up over a female penguin

    Harry and Pepper, male couple in San Franciso Zoo who've broken up over a female penguin  (CBS)

(CBS)  A romantic triangle has led to hurt feelings and a nasty breakup at the San Francisco Zoo.

Its same-sex penguin couple, Harry and Pepper, has split -- over a female, according to CBS station KPIX-TV in the City by the Bay.

The two had been together for six years. They nested together and incubated an egg laid by another penguin.

Zookeepers say, earlier this year, a female penguin named Linda became friends with Harry, after Linda's longtime companion died. That didn't go over well with Pepper, and led to a violent confrontation between Pepper and Harry.

Zoo officials kept the three penguins separated until recently.

They say Harry and Linda are now a happy couple and have successfully nested this year.

© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Add a Comment See all 19 Comments
by isaac_tech2009 July 16, 2009 9:58 AM EDT
wow that was a sweet comment redmooseak! i think the universe has just fixed itself like it always does. like i always said before if the universe took 6 billion years to create xy and xx then what makes us thing that in the 80 or 90 years that we are alive we can change that to xx,xx and xy,xy
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by PaKo7 July 14, 2009 1:58 PM EDT
Looking to animal behavior to settle moral questions about human behavior might not be such a good idea.
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by rwsmith29456 July 14, 2009 1:36 PM EDT
IF this shows anything, it could be that in nature (including man)sexuality is not completely black and white, but many shades of grey.
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by kommonsense July 14, 2009 1:10 PM EDT
Oh, poor Pepper! He must be so lonely and sad...
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by Uncle_Eccoli July 14, 2009 11:55 AM EDT
Homosexuality is a birth defect.
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by Snowhare July 14, 2009 3:38 PM EDT
Stupidest stuff I ever heard: If homosexuality is genetic or you are born so,<br />- it doesn't make people unfit for life<br />- it doesn't make people in any way strange or unfriendly<br />- it doesn't give people a nasty look or deformities<br />- The only thing is that you probably wouldn't reproduce.<br />Given that the majority of gay-haters cite relitious reasons;<br />given that many of these are creationists<br />I would like all creationist gay-haters as well as those who talk about a genetic defect to consider that<br />- using an animal analogy for human behaviour should be left to those who believe in evolution, otherwise this argument makes no sense.<br />- a defect is something that disturbs your life and that of others. Apart from being sickened by immagining gay sex involving myself, I do not see why I should be disturbed by other people who are gay. They themselves get along well in life. Why call it a defect? Stupid definition!
by sam-kiley July 14, 2009 7:57 AM EDT
taxchurches a dit <br /> <br />bActually, all this story shows is that homosexual behavior is perfectly natural in all species and it is only some frightened humans that make a big deal out of it. It isn't "learned behavior," it's just behavior. The "gay gene" is nonsense. <br /> <br />pourt vous peu etre...moi je dis c'est du n'importe quoi..
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by rf35 July 14, 2009 4:07 AM EDT
I have two male cats (fixed) and a male dog (intact). The cats mount each other all the time to display dominance. The dog just humps his stuffed animals. He has shown no "romantic" interest in the female dogs he has met. Anyway, I would suggest that this has nothing to do with sexuality. Put two or more social animals of the same species and gender together and of course they will spend a lot of time close to each other and might well "get it on," if for no other reason than to work out social positions. This has nothing to do with homosexuality except to those who are so obsessed with it, pro or con, that they read it into virtually everything.
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by erasmus111 July 14, 2009 3:54 AM EDT
Poor Pepper!
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by patronejohn July 14, 2009 3:05 AM EDT
Wow that Linda is a homewrecker. Maybe the male penquin was drunk?
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by liselle3 July 13, 2009 10:32 PM EDT
redmooseak <br />You can't possibly be serious...
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