Two homosexual penguins have successfully hatched an egg that was rejected by its parents and are now proudly rearing the chick, the German zoo housing the couple said on Wednesday.

"Z and Vielpunkt, both males, gladly accepted their 'Easter present' and began straight away with hatching the egg," said the zoo in Bremerhaven, in northern Germany.

"Since the chick arrived they are behaving in the same way as one would expect a heterosexual couple to do. Both happy fathers are now diligently handling the everyday care ... of their adopted offspring," the zoo said.

Z and Vielpunkt are part of a six-strong gay community among the zoo's collection of endangered Humboldt penguins who rose to fame in 2005 when four Swedish females were brought in an unsuccessful attempt to "cure" them.

"Homosexuality is nothing unusual among animals," the zoo said. "Sex and coupling up in our world do not necessarily have anything to do with reproduction."

Endangered species

The Humboldt penguin is normally found on the coast of Chile and Peru, but numbers have dropped to between 12,000 and 20,000 as industrial fishing methods have led to dwindling stocks of the anchovies on which they feed.

The zoo has maintained a mix of homosexual and heterosexual Humboldt penguin pairs on its grounds for over three years. Zookeepers had tried to encourage the gay birds to breed with some imported females brought in from Sweden in 2006, but they stayed faithful to their homosexual partners.

With breeding in captivity remaining rare, zoo officials are pleased to have parents of any sexual orientation raising baby birds. Four other eggs are excepted to hatch in early June.

 Agence France-Presse/The Local