AFTER fruitless attempts to hatch stones and fish, a gay penguin couple at a German zoo may finally be able to parent a chick of their own.

Zoo Berlin officials announced that two of its male king penguins, Skipper and Ping, have eagerly adopted an egg. It’ll be the pair’s first chick, if all goes well.

The couple arrived together from a zoo in Hamburg in April, and their bond was evident as soon as they arrived, zoo spokesman Maximilian Jager said.

In July, keepers decided to give Skipper and Ping a real crack at parenthood. One of the zoo’s female king penguins laid an egg, but because she had never hatched her previous eggs, staff members decided to donate it to the pair, he said.

The couple, who had taken turns nursing rocks and bits of food between their feet and trying to hatch them, were more than willing to oblige.

Staffers aren’t sure whether the egg is fertilized, and incubation typically takes about 55 days, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. But if the egg is viable, it’ll be the first penguin at the zoo born to two fathers, Jager said.

Though staff members are thrilled for the prospective parents, Jager said they’re celebrating the news by “giving them as much calm as possible,” which is essential for a successful hatch.

Jager said the zoo’s seen plenty of same-sex penguin couples, and now, Skipper and Ping might join a storied lineup of gay penguin parents.

In June, the ZSL London Zoo celebrated longtime lovers Ronnie and Reggie with a banner that read, “Some penguins are gay. Get over it.” The two Humboldt penguins hatched an abandoned egg in 2015.

Keepers at Sydney’s Sea Life Aquarium in Australia welcomed a baby gentoo penguin, Sphengic, lovingly named for her adoptive dads, Sphen and Magic.

Perhaps most famous, male chinstrap penguins Silo and Roy found love at the Central Park Zoo in 1998 and hatched and raised a chick named Tango. Their family inspired an award-winning children’s book.

Their love soured in 2005 when Silo left Roy for a female named Scrappy. Roy ended his tenure at the zoo alone before transferring to another facility.

Gay coupling certainly isn’t limited to penguins. They’re one of at least 450 species observed to partner up with another member of their sex, according to a 2009 review of same-sex animal behaviors.

Animal behaviorists are split on exactly why animals couple up with members of their sex when there’s no reproductive potential. (SD-Agencies)