Zoo drops efforts to turn penguins straight
& nbsp; By Larry Buhl, PlanetOut Network
& nbsp; Friday, February 18, 2005 / 07:21 PM
SUMMARY: After six male penguins resisted all efforts to relate to female penguins, keepers at the Bremerhaven Zoo in Bremen, Germany, decided to let them stay gay.
Outrage from gay and lesbian groups and -- apparently -- the strength of animal amore, have thwarted a German zoo's plans to break up three gay penguin couples. After six male penguins resisted all efforts to mate with, or even relate to, female penguins, keepers at the Bremerhaven Zoo in Bremen, Germany, decided to let them stay gay.
Keepers at the Bremerhaven Zoo in Bremen, Germany, couldn't understand why six endangered Humboldt penguins, part of the zoo's 10-penguin exhibit, failed to produce offspring. Though the birds coupled up, did courting dances, built nests together and appeared to have sex, no babies were created -- although one couple adopted a stone that they protected as if it were an egg. When DNA tests showed that all six were male, zookeepers turned to a form of aversion therapy by coaxing them to mate with females.
But after four female penguins were imported from Sweden earlier this year to distract the males, it was clear the gay penguins would not turn "straight." The male couples were separated and introduced to the females one by one, but they pined for their mates until they were reunited.
German media reported on the plan, causing gay groups from around the world to deluge the zoo with angry e-mail messages and phone calls. The protests, plus the penguins' stubborn fidelity, caused the zoo to pull the plug on their aversion therapy efforts this week.
Responding to criticism, Director Heike Kueck said the zoo did not try to break up the same-sex pairs by force. Rather, administrators wanted to see if the birds were really homosexual or just lacking in opportunities for female companionship. "The relationships of the male couples were apparently too strong," said Kueck.
Attempts to turn gay penguins straight haven't met with much success. New York's Central Park Zoo gave up its plan to break up the six-year relationship of Roy and Silo by pairing them with female penguins. Roy briefly spent time with one female, but they separated early this year. Roy's flirtation with heterosexuality seems to have strained his relationship with Silo, however, since the two no longer spend time together.
Penguins don't have a lock on same-sex love, however. Scientists have found homosexual behavior throughout the animal world, and more so with animals in the wild than with those in captivity. Bonobos, apes closely related to humans, are nearly all bisexual -- and, studies have shown, wildly energetic sexually. Young male dolphin calves frequently form same-sex relationships.
Same-sex animal couplings have sparked debate over the origin of homosexual behavior. Gay rights groups have used gay animal examples to bolster the belief that homosexuality is natural, while conservative religious groups continue to call such couplings "animalistic."
Though she resists using animal behavior to draw conclusions about humans, Marlene Zuk, author of "Sexual Selections: What We Can and Can't Learn About Sex From Animals" (University of California Press, 2002) says that same-sex animal behavior can be used to expand our understanding of sexuality in general.
With bonobos in particular, Zuk explained, "You see expressions outside the period when females are fertile. Suddenly, you are beginning to see that sex is not necessarily about reproduction. Sexuality is a lot broader term than people want to think."
As for the six Bremerhaven penguins, the experiment doesn't seem to have caused a rift in their same-sex relationships. The four Swedish temptresses, meanwhile, are not exactly left out in the cold. The zoo has flown in two new male penguins, "so the ladies don't miss out altogether," Kueck said. He did not, however, indicate how they would solve the lopsided female-male ratio of uncoupled birds.
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