PRIDE: Should we talk about gay animals?

This month, in celebration of PRIDE, we are giving space to LGBT+ voices from across the BIAZA membership. The PRIDE blogs will provide a snapshot of the experiences of LGBT+ people working in the zoo sector and highlight diversity across the animal kingdom too.

There have been many articles written on same sex coupling, penguins often feature however as many as 450 species have shown ‘homosexual’ behaviours. There are many examples in our collections and the wild.

Are there any advantages to this behaviour? Is it really homosexual behaviour? How does it happen without wiping out a species? Humans have had same sex relationships, it would seem always, and it’s been taboo in varying degrees depending on the society of the time. So are there any benefits? And what are the benefits of allowing people to connect to, what is a human concept, of sexuality and project it onto animals?

We know penguins share the parental responsibility evenly and in a gender neutral way. Two male penguins or two females do an identical job, so long as they can get a fertile egg. But is coupling only about reproduction for the individual or are there other benefits to a species survival that don’t include reproduction? How does same sex coupling benefit the species in the bigger picture?

We know bonobos use sex for appeasement, to build relationships by reliving tension, and that keeps the group tight and working as a team against adversity. Their sexuality is very fluid, across ages and genders and has many social reasons; it’s definitely not all about reproduction. As keepers we often observe behaviours we can’t explain in conventional terms, and I’m not just talking about within species, how many times have we seen relationships develop in a mixed species exhibit?

Are there benefits to same sex couples rearing young? Black Swans are proven to be much more successful in a M-M couple as their protective and aggressive nature results in 70% success compared with just 30% successful rearing of chicks in M-F couples (if they chase a female off a fertile nest). But that’s just one species; it’s not applicable to others. There are many examples of courtship behaviour between same sexes, without a coupling to raise young, such as Giraffes. Perhaps coupling, just as it does in humans can increase our chances of survival, an extra pair of ears and eyes for a prey species, an extra hand for a predator, but ultimately if it doesn’t lead to reproduction why has it evolved? The answers are as complex as the different species, but it may allow some to reproduce while others baby sit, or just become prey to feed predators and take the heat off the reproducers.

What is our role though in presenting this information to the public? We can tell people about the complexities of animal relationships, it’s has been said by various factions that same sex relationships are ‘not natural’. We can present information that says it is natural and animal relationships are very diverse.

Is it up to us to label it? I don’t think we have to.

People will interpret what you tell them and relate to it through the lens of their own experience. Just as a piece of art work can have different meaning to different viewers, we paint the landscape and the viewer decides what it means to them. When it comes to LGBT rights for me it’s an area I’m inadequate to comment on, happy to listen and learn, but aware I could easily offend with my ignorance, so I let other people label the behaviours I’m describing.

When I stand in front of our Humboldt penguin enclosure and point our best ‘breeding pair’, are in fact two males who have successfully reared a chick 3 years running ( now on the 4th egg given to them, and 4th breeding season ), it’s not me that labels them ‘gay’ it’s the visitor. It becomes their revelation not mine. I can turn around to the Rhea paddock right beside the penguins and explain that the male Rhea does all the incubation and chick rearing, the female simply lays the eggs and walks off. That explanation goes down well with the mums; that it’s not a given fact that all females are there to rear young.

It excites people to come to their own conclusion, and view our descriptions in their own colours. We provide the interesting landscape and knowledge of animal behaviours and strategies, and just as a piece of artwork can make people think deeply and question their own view, so can we, when we present the wonderful diversity of animal relationships….and if visitors want to label it to help them understand, well that’s fine. 

By Kathleen Graham, General Manager Curraghs Wildlife Park

All blogs reflect the views of their author and are not a reflection of BIAZA's positions.