Two male penguins are set to fulfil their goal of becoming parents after they were given an abandoned egg to care for.

The couple, Skipper and Ping, who live at Berlin Zoo, have long wanted to have a penguin chick of their own, and have even tried hatching “fish and stones” in the past, according to zoo spokesperson Maximilian Jäger, who spoke to the Berliner Zeitung newspaper.

The king penguins, both of who are 10-years-old, were given the egg in July after it was abandoned by the only female king penguin at the zoo, who has recently shown disinterest in her eggs.

According to zookeeper Norbert Zahmel, the expectant fathers’ instincts kicked in as soon as they were given the egg.

“We just had to put it in front of one of the males,” Zahmel told BZ newspaper. “He immediately knew what to do.”

The couple's egg is expected to hatch in early September (Reuters)

Since receiving the egg, Skipper and Ping have reportedly been “behaving like model parents, taking turns to keep the egg warm”, according to Jäger.

Ping and Skipper have tried to hatch rocks and fish before (Reuters)

This is the first time the zoo has tried to have a same-sex penguin couple incubate an egg, which, if successful, would mean the first chick born at the zoo since 2002.

If the egg proves to be fertilised, Skipper and Ping, who moved to the zoo in April from Hamburg's Tierpark Hagenbeck, should expect their chick to hatch in early September.

In pictures: Penguins in jumpers Show all 6 1 /6 In pictures: Penguins in jumpers In pictures: Penguins in jumpers The Penguin Foundation The Penguin Foundation on Phillip Island in Victoria saves the lives of penguins - by putting them in jumpers In pictures: Penguins in jumpers The Penguin Foundation When penguins are caught in oil spills, their feathers become matted, making it hard for them to stay warm or hunt for food In pictures: Penguins in jumpers The Penguin Foundation Until they can be cleaned, the jumpers help to keep the penguins warm and also stops them from ingesting oil in attempts to clean their feathers with their beaks In pictures: Penguins in jumpers The Penguin Foundation Once the penguins are treated, they are released back into the wild in their birthday suits In pictures: Penguins in jumpers The Penguin Foundation The Penguin Foundation has some dedicated volunteers who knit the jumpers, including 95-year-old Merle Davenport, who has knit over 1000! In pictures: Penguins in jumpers The Penguin Foundation But they always need more. You can contribute a jumper by downloading a pattern on the Penguin Foundation website. Get as creative as you like! If you can’t knit, you could always 'adopt' a penguin to help fund the rescue and rehabilitation operations

Gay penguins are found in both the wild and in captivity. At the Central Park Zoo in New York City, same-sex penguin couple Silo and Roy, who raised a penguin baby together, were the inspiration for the children’s book And Tango Makes Three.

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