14 DAY TRIAL // The end of a bad romance marks the beginning of another. This appears to be the case of one of the separated “gay” penguins sheltered by the Toronto zoo.
The two cute creatures shared an uncommon affection that made them famous worldwide, the Telegraph informs.
Although Facebook fans struggled to convince the authorities to give up their plan, Buddy was forced to leave Pedro and put an end to the notorious “bromance.”
Zoo representatives say Buddy has captured the interest of a cute female and even managed to mate with her. Pedro still seems to be suffering, since he has failed to make any female friends.
Despite this, officials seem confident and say the lonely penguin is sparing no efforts to impress members of the opposite gender.
Even though their decision has been criticized by penguin fans, it draws up an effective strategy aiming to increase the number of such creatures living in captivity.
Since they count as endangered species, peculiar male bondages count as an important bump in the road when it comes to their reproduction.
Despite that these animals have become famous all across the Globe because people kept calling them “Brokeback” or “gay” penguins, Curator Tom Mason says their weird connection is actually strictly social.
Even though penguins usually abandon their mates when an attractive female appears, this situation never happened and zoo representatives were forced to take this matter into their own hands and separate Buddy, 21, and Pedro, 3.
There are visible signs that their love for each other is over. Toronto zoo reported that the two animals have gone into a fight recently.
“It's a common male trait. They set territory around a nest,” explained Mason for the Star.
The Zoo staff is eager to exploit their potential and use them in a mating program.
Laying eggs can take up to a few months, but representatives say they have a real change of seeing some penguin eggs by next year, in March. African penguin pairs mate for life and have a life expectancy of up to 20 years.