Roy and Silo

Roy And Silo

Roy and Silo (born 1987) are Chinstrap Penguins who were a same sex male pair in New York City's Central Park Zoo. They were noted by staff at the zoo that they were performing mating rituals in 1998, although no actual sexual acts were witnessed, and in 1999 attempted to hatch a rock as if it was an egg. This inspired zoo keepers to give them an egg from another pair of penguins who could not hatch it, resulting in the couple raising a chick which was named Tango.

Tango herself formed a same sex relationship with another female penguin. Roy and Silo drifted apart after several years, and in 2005 Silo paired with a female penguin called Scrappy. Their story has been made into a controversial children's book, and featured in a play. Their relationship has been used as arguments both by American liberals and the Christian right. The practice of allowing same sex penguin couples to adopt eggs has been repeated in other zoos around the world.