Toronto's 'Gay' Penguins Enjoying Female Company

After being split up by zoo staff, Buddy and Pedro are making waves among the female population.

Syria might be burning and Europe's in financial chaos, but there's important news afoot on this side of the ocean: Buddy and Pedro, the Toronto zoo's "gay" penguins, are now mating, or at least attempting to mate, with female companions. It's almost as if these aquatic birds are capable of sexual behaviours that don't fit the rote definitions subscribed to by more traditional segments of humanity! What were the chances? As you might recall, Buddy and Pedro, both African penguins, had to be split up earlier this year so that they could procreate, as numbers of their adorable species are sadly dwindling. Buddy, who's at the ripe old age of 21, has been, umm, sustaining the species with three-year-old Farai (a relationship that totally doesn't follow the Rule of Seven, but when the future of your race is on the line, exceptions can be made) while Pedro, 10, has been flirting with just about every female penguin around, although he's yet to seal the deal with any of them. Keep it up, Pedro, these things take persistence. Whether this marks an end of the Pedro-Buddy bromance, or is merely a sign that the pair can swim both ways (har-har) is not clear, but it does bode well for the future of the African penguin.