Zookeepers at Berlin Zoo have given up trying to get two male penguins to breed with female penguins – after it became clear they preferred eachother.

The two king penguins, Stan and Olli, had been jetted in as part of the European Endangered Species Programmes (EEP) in order to mate with the zoo’s female penguins.

However, the pair didn’t quite live up to the expectations… when it became clear they were much more interested in having sex with eachother.

According to The Local, Berlin Zoo spokeswoman Christiane Reiss lamented: “They never bred. And when it came to courtship, they only mated with one another.

“They’re gay, as far as we know.”

Rather than keep encouraging the pair to have sex with females, the zookeepers decided to accept the penguins for who they are and remove them from the breeding project.

Stan and Olli are now being transferred to an all-male gay penguin paradise at Hamburg’s Tierpark Hagenbeck – where they’ll meet another gay penguin couple, Juan and Carlos.

Homosexuality is surprisingly common among penguins.

A children’s book that tells the story of two male penguins raising a child together is one of the most-banned books in the US.

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnel is based of the true story of penguins Roy and Silo, who started a relationship in New York’s Central Park Zoo.

Zookeepers gave the pair an egg to take care of – which hatched into their adoptive son Tango.