Gay Penguins Split In Love Triangle Shock

2:23am UK, Sunday July 19, 2009

A much-feted six-year gay relationship between two male penguins at a zoo is over - after one dumped the other for a widowed female called Linda.

Harry has left Pepper for another "more attractive" bird at San Francisco Zoo - sparking outrage across the blogosphere.

The story has been picked up by many of the leading American newspapers including the Los Angeles Times.

Bloggers have been quick to accuse Linda of being a "home wrecker" who "lives for her own happiness, no matter who gets hurt."

The LA Times reported that Harry and Pepper had lived happily side-by-side, protecting eggs abandoned by other penguins, for many years.

But the relationship came to a "shocking end" when Harry moved into a neighboring nest with recently-widowed Linda.

Pepper has been spotted by visitors walking mournfully back and forth around the pen.

Harrison Edell, a curator of birds at the zoo, noted that Linda's recently-deceased partner was a leader of sorts among the small zoo penguin community, commanding not one but two nests.

"For penguins, real estate means a lot," Edell told the LA Times.

"So as far as penguins go, she was a pretty attractive prospect."

With Pepper rejoining the ranks of the single, Christian website OneNewsNow.com took the split as a sign that "nature prefers heterosexual relationships."

Others were more sympathetic to the bereft Pepper.

John, writing on "The ******* Loon" blog, said he was "heartbroken" about the split and that he hopes Pepper "finds another male penguin that is ten times hotter than Harry!"