I found this article in the Time archieves and thought I would share it. The only point Iam trying to make with these articles is that homosexual behavior in animals has been observed by others outside this board.The was a question raised as to wether homosexual behavior was truly observed in animals.
April 26, 1999
The Gay Side of Nature
Go to TIME.com Homepage >>
April 26, 1999
The Gay Side of Nature
Even as moralists and activists continue to debate homosexuality, many species casually practice it
BY JEFFREY KLUGER
Giraffes do it, goats do it, birds and bonobos and dolphins do it. Humans beings--a lot of them anyway--like to do it too, but of all the planet's species, they're the only ones who are oppressed when they try.
What humans share with so many other animals, it now appears, is freewheeling homosexuality. For centuries opponents of gay rights have seen same-gender sex as a uniquely human phenomenon, one of the many ways our famously corruptible species flouts the laws of nature. But nature's morality, it seems, may be remarkably flexible, at least if the new book Biological Exuberance (St. Martin's Press), by linguist and cognitive scientist Bruce Bagemihl, is to be believed. According to Bagemihl, the animal kingdom is a more sexually complex place than most people know--one where couplings routinely take place not just between male-female pairs but also between male-male and female-female ones. What's more, same-sex partners don't meet merely for brief encounters, but may form long-term bonds, sometimes mating for years or even for life.
Bagemihl's ideas have caused a stir in the higher, human community, especially among scientists who find it simplistic to equate any animal behavior with human behavior. But Bagemihl stands behind the findings, arguing that if homosexuality comes naturally to other creatures, perhaps it's time to quit getting into such a lather over the fact that it comes naturally to humans too. "Animal sexuality is more complex than we imagined," says Bagemihl. "That diversity is part of human heritage."
For a love that long dared not speak its name, animal homosexuality is astonishingly common. Scouring zoological journals and conducting extensive interviews with scientists, Bagemihl found same-sex pairings documented in more than 450 different species. In a world teeming with more than 1 million species, that may not seem like much. Animals, however, can be surprisingly prim about when and under whose prying eye they engage in sexual activity; as few as 2,000 species have thus been observed closely enough to reveal their full range of coupling behavior. Within such a small sampling, 450 represents more than 20%.
That 20% may spend its time lustily or quite tenderly. Among bonobos, a chimplike ape, homosexual pairings account for as much as 50% of all sexual activity. Females especially engage in repeated acts of same-sex sex, spending far more than the 12 or so seconds the whole transaction can take when a randy male is involved. Male giraffes practice necking--literally--in a very big way, entwining their long bodies until both partners become sexually aroused. Heterosexual and homosexual dolphin pairs engage in face-to-face sexual encounters that look altogether human. Animals as diverse as elephants and rodents practice same-sex mounting, and macaques raise that affection ante further, often kissing while assuming a coital position. Same-gender sexual activity, says Bagemihl, "encompasses a wide range of forms."
What struck Bagemihl most is those forms that go beyond mere sexual gratification. Humboldt penguins may have homosexual unions that last six years; male greylag geese may stay paired for 15 years--a lifetime commitment when you've got the lifespan of a goose. Bears and some other mammals may bring their young into homosexual unions, raising them with their same-sex partner just as they would with a member of the opposite sex.
But witnessing same-sex activity and understanding it are two different things, and some experts believe observers like Bagemihl are misreading the evidence. In species that lack sophisticated language--which is to say all species but ours--sex serves many nonsexual purposes, including establishing alliances and appeasing enemies, all things animals must do with members of both sexes. "Sexuality helps animals maneuver around each other before making real contact," says Martin Daly, an evolutionary psychologist at McMaster University in Ontario. "Putting all that into a homosexual category seems simplistic."
Even if some animals do engage in homosexual activity purely for pleasure, their behavior still serves as an incomplete model--and an incomplete explanation--for human behavior. "In our society homosexuality means a principal or exclusive orientation," says psychology professor Frans de Waal of the Yerkes Primate Center in Atlanta. "Among animals it's just nonreproductive sexual behavior."
Whether any of this turns out to be good for the gay and lesbian community is unclear. While the new findings seem to support the idea that homosexuality is merely a natural form of sexual expression, Bagemihl believes such political questions may be beside the point. "We shouldn't have to look to the animal world to see what's normal or ethical," he says. Indeed, when it comes to answering those questions, Mother Nature seems to be keeping an open mind.
Edited by isis (10/17/01 10:12 PM)
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Not everyone needs to breed "naturally" in order to be helpful. I found this article at the CNN site.
Gay birds of a feather parent together at Israeli zoo
Dashik and Yahuda, two male vultures, have raised two baby birds
VIDEO
CNN's Jerrold Kessel reports on a surprising development in a program to reintroduce vultures to the wild in Israel.
Windows Media 28K 80K
September 18, 1999
Web posted at: 7:24 p.m. EDT (2324 GMT)
From Correspondent Jerrold Kessel
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Zoo keepers involved in an ambitious breeding program for endangered Griffin vultures are getting a helping hand from a vulture couple that, ironically, doesn't breed.
Keepers noticed that Dashik and Yahuda, two male vultures at Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, had built a nest together and were mating. So they decided to give the couple an artificial egg to see what would happen.
"They were sitting incubating perfectly," said the zoo's head keeper, Itzik Yadid. "If they are incubating so good, sharing between the two of them, the next step will be obviously to give them a chick to raise."
So far, Dashik and Yahuda have raised two baby birds, Diva and Adi Gordon, with results that exceeded expectations
"We're very proud of them. We think they've done a marvelous job," said bird keeper Sharon Sterling. "They've behaved extremely well, the best parents we've ever seen."
Keepers had initially thought about separating Dashik and Yahuda and trying to bring in a female to create a heterosexual vulture couple.
Dashik and Yahuda were given a chick to raise after they were given an artificial egg to incubate
"And then we said, 'Why should we do it? If they are together, if they are raising a chick together, why should we separate them?'" Yadid said. "So we decided to let them stay together and keep raising chicks together."
There is a reason beyond mere curiosity for seeking parenting help from the gay vultures. Normally, female Griffin vultures lay only one egg a year. But if the egg is taken from the mother, she will lay a second egg, a process known as "double clutching."
So by providing suitable surrogate parents for the eggs that are taken, bird keepers can increase the number of vultures that are bred.
Griffin vultures, once a common sight in the Mideast, have nearly disappeared. The zoo is trying to reintroduce them through the breeding program.
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