Gay Penguins?

[Gypsy-Rhiannon]

Swedish lady-penguins have been brought into a German zoo to help the largely homosexual Humboldt penguin population to procreate.

None of the zoo staff suspected anything to be unusual with the population of 13 penguins, but they failed to produce any offspring.

A DNA-analysis finally revealed that 12 of the thirteen birds were actually male.

"Just by looking at them, one is not able to specify the penguins' sex," zoo director Heike Kueck told reporters.

"The first indication that those penguins might be homosexual was, that normally during mating, the female is underneath and the male on top.

"We noticed that they were always changing. Sometimes the male was on top, sometimes the female."

Due to the lack of females, the penguins had made amends and struck up relationships between males.

Four experienced lady-penguins from Swedish Kolmarden Zoo have now been flown in to stimulate the gay males into mating and breeding.

But zoo director Kueck does not have high hopes: "If those animals actually are homosexual, which is proven to happen in the animal world, the Swedish ladies will have been flown in in vain," he said.


http://www.ntlworld.com/partners/itn...ory1213162.php

[sara1998]

That is hilarious!

[DrummerDeanna]

OMG - my mom called me like a week ago with this story -her husband had heard it on the Spanish news (which oddly gets a lot of the news before the US - and more thoroughly )

Her husband thought it was quite the amusing story as did I!

Guess the theory of a certain poster around here that "even the animals can get it right" or whatever is now proven 100% wrong lol...

[sparky]

I have heard this about penguins many times. While it is a bummer they aren't breeding, I am sure there are plently of hetero penguins out there.
I knew there was another reason for me liking penguins so much !
There was/is a pair of homo penguins at the LA Zoo too. There was a picture in the paper last year of them doing some sort of mating dance. So darned cute.

[Nixxxed]

"Experienced lady-penguins"? Am I supposed to read this as "lady-penguin hookers"? (If so, sounds like they should instead be sent to the White House Press Room. )

This is very strange -- penguins mate for life. And if the male penguins in question have already formed a bonded pair, it's pretty pointless.

And I also read some stories about male penguin bonded pairs in New York (I think). And in that zoo, there are *plenty* of female birds.

[GateandGarden]

There's another article about these penguins on PlanetOut. According to this article, the zoo has given up on turning the penguins straight.

http://www.planetout.com/news/articl...e=2005/02/18/6

Gotta love those penguins!

[Nixxxed]

Originally Posted by GateandGarden

There's another article about these penguins on PlanetOut. According to this article, the zoo has given up on turning the penguins straight.

http://www.planetout.com/news/articl...e=2005/02/18/6

Gotta love those penguins!

Thanks Hillary -- yes, it was Roy and Silo at Central Park Zoo that I was thinking of. And now I'm pissed that the zookeepers' efforts have apparently destroyed their relationship after 6 years.

[GypsySorcerer]

Originally Posted by Gypsy-Rhiannon

But zoo director Kueck does not have high hopes: "If those animals actually are homosexual, which is proven to happen in the animal world, the Swedish ladies will have been flown in in vain," he said.

[DrummerDeanna]

Originally Posted by GateandGarden

According to this article, the zoo has given up on turning the penguins straight.

I don't know why I find that statement humorous but I do

Those poor penguins though - I mean not even knowing that they're damning themselves to hell by their actions *totally kidding*

[Nixxxed]

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

I don't know why I find that statement humorous but I do

Those poor penguins though - I mean not even knowing that they're damning themselves to hell by their actions *totally kidding*

Yes, but at least in those little tuxedos, they'll look FABULOUS in hell surrounded by all that glowing red brimstone.

[amber]

Originally Posted by Nixxxed

Yes, but at least in those little tuxedos, they'll look FABULOUS in hell surrounded by all that glowing red brimstone.

On the downside, we actually want animals to procreate, whereas humans? Not so necessary.

[Miss Vicky]

I understand why the zoo made the attempt, since that species of penguin is rare. However they should have looked more at penguin mating/pairing behavior before trying to seperate them.

Homosexuality in animals of all forms is pretty common. I had a pair of gay rats at one point. They were very sexually active, but didn't mount each other the way a male would mount a female. Instead they were quite fond of um... grooming each other in a particular area of the body. They were so cute together. I miss them.

[GateandGarden]

Originally Posted by Nixxxed

Yes, but at least in those little tuxedos, they'll look FABULOUS in hell surrounded by all that glowing red brimstone.