A same-sex pair of Chilean Flamingos at Paignton Zoo are raising a chick after ‘adopting’ the egg keepers say was most likely abandoned by another couple.

The zoo said it did not know how the male flamingos, Curtis and Arthur, acquired the chick but added that it was known to happen among birds.

Pete Smallbones, curator of Birds at the zoo, said: “Regarding the same-sex parenting, we aren’t entirely sure how this has come about, although it is a known phenomenon in Chilean flamingos as well as other bird flocks. The most likely scenario is that the egg was abandoned by another couple, so this pair have ‘adopted’ it.”

It is the first time since 2018 that the zoo has had Chilean flamingo chicks. The new additions are the offspring of several flamingo couples who were named by the public earlier this year, including the same-sex pair, Curtis and Arthur.

The flamingos were named in order to better document the couples as their paired up over the summer. The initiative, named ‘Love Lagoon’ in an homage to the popular reality TV series ‘Love Island’, has seen frequent updates posted on the zoo’s Instagram channel.

Flamingo eggs hatch after a period of approximately 28 days, where they are incubated on mud pile nests by both parents. The chicks, covered in grey, downy feathers, can appear quite different from their adult counterparts. While there are currently only four chicks on the island, there are still a number of eggs incubating.

Chilean flamingos are native to South America, inhabiting brackish or alkaline shallow lakes across various countries.

However, the species is declining in the wild due to a number of factors, including egg-harvesting, disturbance by tourism, and habitat degradation due to mining.