Birds Do It, Bonobos Do It

[peterh]

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-op-zuk7mar07,1,63639.story?coll=la-sunday-commentary

If homosexuality is truly unnatural, why does it occur in 450 different species?

PERTH, Australia — Anyone who doubts the relevance of homosexuality in animals to the current debate about gay marriage should consider Roy and Silo. The two male chinstrap penguins live together at the Central Park Zoo in Manhattan, eat raw fish and are rearing a chick of their own — kind of like those sushi-loving San Franciscans who've been flocking to the courthouse in droves lately. Roy and Silo, the New York Times reported recently, have been inseparable for six years, having sex with each other and showing no interest in female penguins (who also showed little in them). After the pair tried to incubate a rock, a sympathetic keeper gave the penguins an orphan egg to hatch, which they sat on for more than a month. Then they fed the chick until it was able to fend for itself.

Going back to the bonobos, a student I once had in my animal behavior class was confused by the idea that sex was used to resolve social crises. Imagine, I said, that you and somebody else both wanted something, like a banana. If you were humans, maybe you'd fight over it, but if you were bonobos, you'd have sex. The student still looked puzzled. Yeah, he said, but then who would get the banana? By that time, I replied, you wouldn't care about the banana.




Imagine the possibilities of averting a potential crises with sex and when the situation is really intense, keep the players in a room with a healthy supply of Viagra….

[Daisey Mae]

1. nice !!

[ajacobson]

2. You don't see bonobos on documentaries much

because they apparently screw ALL the time for any and every reason.

[megatherium]

3. They have a bonobo troop at the San Diego zoo

but when I was there, they weren't doing much at all.

[chiburb]

4. Or keep them like this: