I've been following this story with interest, SG.

Feel badly that these penguins must be in captivity, but know the breeding program is important to perpetuate the species.

Wonder what will happen when the boys are separated....will they pine away for each other. If there were plans to reunite them immediately after mating with females, maybe its okay, but expect once separated, the zoo officials will keep them apart. How will they know if the penguins are in mourning? Since penguins mate for life, taking them away from the females won't be good for them either. The females need a mate to help raise the chick.

I'm inclined to leave nature alone. If Buddy and Pedro have formed a deep friendship, let them be together. There must be other males anxious to mate. Too often humans interfere in the natural world and decide what they want, rather than what is best for the creatures we care for.

I do not doubt they may, in fact, mate if separated. Or they may form a pair bond with another male. Although penguins pair bond for life, they do move on if one dies (as shown by one penguin losing their female partner). They will likely think the other has died. That breaks my animal loving heart.

I too might be tempted to say, let them mate and re-unite them, but then I think about myself. Should I be forced to breed? Should it change if the species is in decline or facing extinction? Should I think my mate has died? 

I know, "they are just animals". But, so too are we, we just happen to be the ones in control. Animal Farm....

I guess I also have a problem with certain breeding programs. These penguins were raised in captivity. Any offspring they produce will likely live in captivity. They will take the chick away and teach it people feed it and care for it and it will grow up to be a zoo penguin.

http://www.udel.edu/PR/Messenger/97/2/penguin.html

When do we quit "learning about animals" by mistreating them or holding them in cages?

This avoids restrictions on commercial fishing and lets us avoid thinking about oil spills. I mean really, how many of us knew about the MV Teasure disaster? We do not have to deal with global warming and pollution. We can just breed animals in captivity and pretend all is well in the world. That they are not extinct in the wild because some are in the zoos.

This article is not the best, but it has the best photos

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/11/09/gay-penguins-pedro-and-buddy-to-be-separated-to-help-preserve-rare-breed-videos-115875-23549249/

Apparently the decision has been made, according to Star article.

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1083793--tale-of-same-sex-penguin-pa...

The recent oil spill off the coast of New Zealand barely made it to North American news. A friend and fellow whale researcher has been following the travels of 2 tagged humpbacks - mother and calf - as they approached and swam through part of the spill. My heart aches for those whales, since ingesting any oil likely means a slow and painful death. This is an area for lots of dolphin and penguin activity as well. Many dead penguins, dolphins and birds have washed up on the beaches.

Nature is the 99% as well, and we are slowly destroying her, at our own peril.

As an animal lover I don't visit zoos and aquariums because seeing creatures in captivity is too disturbing, even though in some cases captivity is the only means of keeping an animal from extinction.

I agree, gecko, animals are also the 1%.  I am not a zoo frequenter, either.

The decision is made, but I am interested in the discussions that open around it - everything like oils spills, life in captivity, how we feel about zoos...

I also think that zoos are in the business of profit making, for corporations or municipalities. We tend to forget that. When people demand environments more suitable than cages, they do so, or the bottom line suffers or they face closure.  If this motivates enough people, ires enough people, the decision may not be as concrete as it is now. (Which I read involves reuniting them post-breeding, which is BTW unusual) Male-female pairs are routinely broken up and taken to separate zoos all the time. If this story touches our hearts, what of all those animals who we do not know or care about?

Roy, Silo and Tango certainly drew more attention to their more prevalent breed of penguins (Chinstrap) and the zoo (NY Central Park) together than apart.

There can be low fertility rates, period, in captivity. Some animals do well breeding in captivity, other animals do not. We still work on AI and such things when maybe it is captivity itself.

Thanks for starting this thread, SG.

Captivity issues
http://www.wdcs.org/stop/captivity/index.php

http://theorcaproject.wordpress.com/2011/10/09/court-battles-exposekille...

http://www.bornfree.org.uk/animals/orca/projects/captivity-issues/

http://www.bornfree.org.uk/animals/tigers/projects/behind-the-bars/

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/09/nea-dolphin-death/

I'm of mixed opinion about having animals in zoos and aquariums. On one hand, I don't want to see animals in poor living conditions and on the other hand I doubt that I would have had the same level of respect for these creatures if I didn't have the opportunity to see them in person. As a child I used to go to Game Farm, a zoo and an aquarium in Vancouver. The game farm and the zoo made me sad as the living conditions there were obviously bad. The polar bear exhibit at the zoo housed three bears - and they had barely enough room. The lion cage at the game farm was not much bigger than my apartment. I used to enjoy the aquarium, however - somehow it seemed as if those animals were being treated better than their counterparts in the other institutions. I don't know if this was true or not but even today I would be more likely to go back there than to the zoo (which is now closed) or the game farm.