Animals: They’re just like us! Especially when that parental instinct kicks in.

A gay penguin couple at the Denmark Odense Zoo recently decided they were going to adopt—okay, kidnap—a chick after its parents went for a swim. But before we hate on the gay penguin couple, Sandie Hedgegard Munck, the zookeeper, assures us it was for the sweetest reason.

Munck says that she believes the gay penguins were only trying to protect the chick after they assumed its parents had neglected their baby. They saw the, who they thought was neglected, baby, and since they wanted to be parents themselves, decided to keep it as their own.

“I think the female had been out to get her bath, and then it had been the male’s turn to care for the kid. He may have then left, and then the [gay] couple had thought, ‘It’s a pity, we’ll take it,” Munck explained.

Of course, when the mama of the straight couple finally realized her chick was stolen, she did not take this well and started arguing with the gay penguin couple. But the latter fought back because they thought the baby was abandoned!

“The female is very caring for the kid, and she is also very aggressive to us animal lovers if we get too close to the chick,” Munck said.

The gay penguin couple did lose the battle, unfortunately, and the baby was given back to her parents. Well, I suppose you can’t just snatch up a baby penguin and get to keep it as your own, can you?

There is a happy ending to the story, though! The zookeepers have decided they’re going to give the gay penguin couple an egg from one of their new moms who was unable to care for her offspring because of a sickness

The fight between the penguin couples was caught on camera. It feels a bit hostile at first, but when you know the story behind it, it makes the whole thing kind of sweet! Check it out for yourself below.

Have you ever seen penguin argue like this before? Whose side are you on?