Timbre of a TimeFree Mind

Colin Hyde is the Director of Life Science at Perth Zoo. He's seen a lot when it comes to animal behaviour. Exactly why animals are gay, he couldn't say, but there are a number of reasons for the behaviour, he believes.

"In a lot of animals, sexual behaviour is driven by hormonal responses to pheromones and other hormones that are laid down in urine." In others, there are behavioural aspects to the practice. In rare cases, complex social interactions are reaffirmed by sex behaviour.

The behaviour could be hierarchical with one animal seeking to dominate another. Colin's also heard that in some cases, the animal's brain is a different sex to the body with the hapless animal playing out its thoughts rather than its gender assigned role.

Homosexual behaviour doesn't seem to be more common in any particular species, though it does appear more common in the higher order species. It can cause a problem for farmers where the girls are more interested in the other girls than the boys. Cows will sometimes compete with the bull for the mating position on another cow. Giraffes only spend time with the females when they're mating, keeping together in male groups the rest of the time. Giraffes are about as intelligent as cows, says Colin. "They're tall and they eat grass." The homosexual behaviour is probably hierarchical.

In some species birds, it's the females who buddy up. Spoonbill females will share a nest, mate, lay eggs and "and seem almost to pair bond," says Colin.

The bonobo chimp has a social structure based around sex. "Sex replaces the handshake almost in the species," says Colin. "They use sex as a way of keeping the group cohesion." It's like a 70s hippie version of the chimpanzee, he jokes.

posted by jikido  # 2:35 PM