A vulture raised by two male parents in a longstanding relationship has been released into the wild.

Artis Amsterdam Royal Zoo released the bird in Sardinia last weekend after its doting gay fathers spent a year raising it in the Dutch capital.

It will now join a group of twelve other griffon vultures on the Italian island who have been released as part of a conservation programme to increase the species' population.

Rembrandt Sutorius, the director at the zoo, said the release was a 'very special moment', adding: 'We could see the vultures floating above the area - a truly magnificent sight.'

Scroll down for video

Artis Amsterdam Royal Zoo released the bird in Sardinia last weekend after its doting gay fathers spent a year raising it in the Dutch capital

Rembrandt Sutorius, the director at the zoo, said the release was a 'very special moment', adding: 'We could see the vultures floating above the area - a truly magnificent sight.' Pictured: One of the chick's fathers with the adopted vulture last year

Rembrandt Sutorius, the director at the zoo, said the release was a 'very special moment', adding: 'We could see the vultures floating above the area - a truly magnificent sight.' Pictured: The birds being released in Sardinia

The young bird hatched in the spring of last year after zookeepers found an abandoned egg at the bottom of an aviary.

They put the apparently unwanted egg in an incubator but, when they noticed two gay male griffon vultures collecting twigs to build a nest, they decided to give them the egg instead.

The vultures, who had been together for several years, took turns sitting on the egg until it hatched - the first successful hatching at the zoo in five years.

Their parenting was commended in June last year, with the zoo explaining the two males were 'taking good care of the chick'.

An Artis spokesperson said at the time: 'This is not unusual in nature. There are often homosexual couples, especially among birds.'

Speaking to the BBC last year, zookeeper Job van Tol said the males were 'a very tight couple'.

The fathers' parenting was commended in June last year, with the zoo explaining the two males were 'taking good care of the chick'. Pictured: The chick not long after hatching

The vultures, who had been together for several years, took turns sitting on the egg until it hatched - the first successful hatching at the zoo in five years

He added: 'We have had them for some years. They always build a nest together, bond and mate together.'



The gay griffon vultures ate mostly from the carcasses of dead animals, such as rabbits and guinea pigs, before regurgitating for their chick to eat.

It was released alongside a young vulture from Spain whose parents - a male and female - had been hurt in the wild.