Animals always surprise us with their reactions and empathy

Thankfully there are some news items that make you smile and sometimes bring a tear to your eye too - for example, the story of the two gay penguins in a Sydney zoo.

Sphen and Magic, are two male gentoo penguins who celebrated six years together and even managed to adopt and raise two chick penguins. These two penguins became known worldwide, their fame spread, often being seen as a symbol of equality, they inspired people, giving a positive effect on those around them. Documentaries have been made about them, books have been written, they are on Netflix too!

Sadly recently, at the age of 12, Sphen died. The zoo keepers wanted to help Magic understand that Sphen would not be returning so they took him to show where Sphen lay. Magic, and it is magic, started singing, the colony of penguins joined in, a beautiful, unexpected moment, celebrating Sphen’s life in birdsong.

Wow, animals can continue to surprise us with their reactions, empathy, understanding and loyalty. Penguins are loyal birds, they often mate for life, during the breeding season in the Antarctic one bird stays to protect the egg in a pouch of feather on a nest of well-chosen pebbles. Pebbling is the act of the male penguin searching for the best pebbles to present to the female for their nest building. The pebbles are signs of affection and dedication, rather like us giving gifts to our loved ones!

The male penguins stand, huddled together for warmth, often in darkness, with no food waiting for the female to return. She goes off into the open sea searching for food for weeks, while the males stay protecting the egg in temperatures of up to -40 deg C. The birds trust each other, there is loyalty and belief and the chicks survive in the harshest conditions on earth, thanks to that belief in each other and understanding that during tough times it is important to stick together.

Penguins are fascinating, flightless birds who can perhaps teach us a thing or two about community and loyalty. They do have that awkward way of walking but are super fast in the water. The gentoo penguin in the Antarctic is now on the list of endangered species, being threatened to extinction mainly due to too much tourism.

Magic will continue to live in Sydney without his beloved partner but as can often happen he will find another mate, but will no doubt never forget Sphen. I feel that many people will not forget Sphen too and think of him and Magic as that symbol of eternal friendship where the chorus of birds singing together just emphasized the power of unity and friendship in animals.