According to zookeepers, the egg was initially found on the floor of a vulture aviary and was placed inside an incubator. After some time, officials moved the egg to a nest the two male birds had built together.
Taking it step-by-step, like any new parents, the couple is adapting to their new roles swimmingly. Handlers noted both vultures alternate sitting on the egg and have begun feeding their newly hatched child regurgitated food.
While it’s not completely unusual to see a same-sex relationship among animals, this is the first time a pair has successfully hatched an egg at the Amsterdam zoo.
Other instances involving same-sex couples in the animal kingdom include another vulture couple in Germany’s Tierpark Nordhorn that adopted an egg after a female vulture “sitting in a strange position” suddenly dropped her soon-to-be child into the mud.
Quick to respond, officials working at the zoo placed the abandoned egg in temporary incubation before it was given to the male vultures, Isis and Nordham, who began to care for it.
The new dads in Amsterdam will continue to feed their new hatchling regurgitated rabbits, guinea pigs, rats and ponies, according to Artis officials, until the youngling is able to feed on its own.
