It's over for the world's most famous
gay penguins. The San Francisco Zoo's Harry and Pepper have called
it quits after six long years, the San Francisco Examiner
reported Saturday.
Breaking up the couple was Linda, the
widow penguin with the hots for Harry.
Harry and Pepper made international
headlines when they adopted an egg laid by another Magellanic penguin
and zoo handlers allowed the couple to incubate it last year.
“Of all the parents that year, they
were the best,” zookeeper Anthony Brown said. “They took very
good care of their chick.”
Linda decided to pursue Harry when her
mate, Fig, died. That was when the flaps came out, and the three
birds had to be separated when they quarreled over Linda's apparent
seduction.
Pepper was placed in a separate exhibit
as Harry and Linda settled in and successfully nested this year. But
he has since returned, leaving fans wondering if that's the end of
the gay penguin love story.
“It's molting season in late July and
early August, and around that time we see couples getting shaken up,”
Brown said. “It'll be interesting to see if Harry spends any of
that time with Pepper.”
“We'll have to wait and see,” he
added.