Female penguin renamed after park staff discover she’s in fact a gay male

Staff at a wildlife park who were bemused by female king penguin Maggie’s inability to lay eggs – despite flirting and lovemaking with males in her enclosure – have learned the truth behind the mystery.

The 10-year-old bird, it turns out, is male. And gay.

Since renamed Magnus, the penguin lives at Birdland Park and Gardens, in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, which has the UK’s only king penguin breeding colony.

The colony is made up of four other birds: 30-year-old Bill, 24-year-old Frank, Seth, the world’s oldest living king penguin at 39, and Spike, 17. Bill was originally thought to be male but was later discovered to be female. Magnus was brought to Birdland from Odense in Denmark in 2016 as part of a breeding programme to boost numbers.

“Magnus seemed to settle in well, even catching the attention of fellow penguin Frank,” a spokesman told The Telegraph. “But when keepers observed ‘Maggie’ attempting to mate with Frank, suspicions grew. A feather sample was sent for DNA testing and the truth was revealed: Magnus is definitely male.”

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Alistair Keen, Birdland’s head-keeper, said the discovery of Magnus’ real sex presents “another unique hurdle” in efforts to establish a successful breeding programme because it leaves just one female bird in the colony.

“It’s fascinating, however, to have confirmed what we’ve long suspected, and we remain committed to supporting these incredible birds in every way possible,” he added.

A new female penguin is expected to arrive from Germany who in January 2025.

Given that Magnus is a male, it turns out he has been engaging in same-sex sexual activity – not usual for penguins.

The children’s book And Tango Makes Three was inspired by the real-life coupling of male penguins Roy and Silo at New York’s Central Park Zoo. The title is frequently included in book bans by anti-LGBTQ+ conservatives who want to prevent children knowing about homosexuality.

Sphen and Magic, a pair of male gentoo penguins at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium, also made headlines around the world and were dubbed gay icons for their love story. They adopted and raises two chicks: Sphengic (Lara) was born in 2018, followed by Clancy two years later.

Fans of the birds were left heart-broken in August when Sphen died aged 11.

In the wild, when a penguin’s partner dies the living one will often search for them, so staff at the Sydney aquarium decided it would be best to show Magic that Sphen died, to help him see that “his partner wouldn’t be returning”.

Penguin-keeper Renee Howell described the moment Magic saw Sphen as deeply emotional because he started singing, with the wider colony then joining in.

In 2019, Heythrop Zoo, in Oxfordshire, threw a lavish wedding for “inseparable” penguin couple Ferrari and Pringle, including a ride in a Bentley and a fish wedding breakfast.

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