African penguins Pedro and Buddy have officially moved on to other partners but like all breakups, their heartache was not without some drama.
Toronto Zoo officials say separating Pedro and Buddy -- a same-sex couple -- turned out to be quite easy because the penguins got into a fight.
Buddy had no problem moving on with a female. In fact, he hooked up with a lady penguin 72 hours after the breakup.
Pedro has tried to move on but it hasn't been easy. Though he has taken a liking to a female penguin in the group, she is apparently playing a bit hard to get.
Tom Mason, the zoo's curator of bird and invertebrates, says he is confident she'll warm up to him soon enough.
"When the opposite sex shows up, the same sex bonds tends to break down," he said.
Separating the same-sex penguins and getting them to partner up with penguins of the opposite sex was an important task for the zoo as the species is severely endangered.
There are about 50,000 birds left in the wild and 800 birds living in captivity in North America. Pedro and Buddy are in a breeding group as part of the endangered species plan set out by the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Mason said.
"There's quite a bit of work being done to save them," he said. "We have to be careful of who goes with who so we can maintain the genetic diversity."
