Two gay vultures successfully hatch an egg in Amsterdam

The new dads are taing care of the chick by feeding it regurgitated food. Pic/Artis

Amsterdam: Two male griffon vultures in a long-standing relationship have successfully hatched an egg at an Amsterdam zoo.When the zookeepers at Artis zoo noticed the vultures collecting twigs to build a nest, they decided to put an abandoned egg in the nest.

Zookeeper Job van Tol said the two fathers are "a very tight couple" and are doing the job perfectly.

Artis zoo said in a statement today that keepers who found an egg found on the floor of the vulture aviary initially put it in an incubator but later placed in a nest that the two male birds built together in the enclosure.

The zoo said the vultures, which have been a couple for years, took turns sitting on the egg until it hatched. Now, the new dads are taking care of the chick by feeding it regurgitated food.

The zoo says it is not unusual for animals, particularly birds, to form same-sex couples, but it is the first time such a pair has hatched an egg at the Dutch capital's zoo.