Animals Just Want to Have Fun!!! :O)

The weird wild
The odd things that animals do for pleasure — and companionship
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Last Updated on August 20, 2007, 12:00 am
By Nicholas Asego

Homosexuality in the animal kingdom is as natural as green grass in summer.

Amusing or appalling as some might find it, this ‘weird proclivity’ has been recorded in 1,500 animals species from mammals to crabs and worms.


Chimpanzees need little invitation to have sex or masturbate.

Same sex pairs of animals kiss and caress each other with obvious affection and tenderness. Any homosexual behaviour you care to name — anal sex, same sex kissing, long term pair bonding between members of the same sex, courtship rituals unique to homosexual couples and more are commonly found in the animal kingdom.

Yet this not yesterday’s discovery. The earliest mention of animal homosexuality was by Aristotle, who spoke of homosexuality between hyenas.

Majority of those who witness this for the first time are often shocked beyond words.

"Last Easter I visited a relative who had three dogs, two male and one female. Later in the evening I bumped into the male dogs mating as the female looked on unperturbed," says a lady who had never seen homosexual tendencies in animals before.

"I was struck dumb mid sentence while talking to my sister in law …" she added.

Dwarf chimpanzees have sex for fun between and across the genders

However, her host was not shocked. Male dogs not only mount each other but also masturbate by licking their genitalia for the heck-of-it.

Those who grew up in the villages have often seen cows (even bulls) mount each other. Conservatives attribute this to being on season (ready to mate), but explorative scientists say this is a manifestation of the desire to mate with a member of the same sex.

The most well known homosexual animal is the dwarf chimpanzee or bonobo, one of man’s closest relative. Their behaviour is almost scandalous because they will have sex with anyone anytime, never mind the sex or age.

About 60 per cent of all sexual activity in this species is between two or more females. Research has shown that like humans, they have sex for fun between and across the genders. An observer does not wait long to notice females locked in a face-to-face embrace or mutual genital rubbing, or spy males glued together in open-mouthed kisses and tongue stimulation.

This conspicuous presence of sex in all their activities takes the focus away from violence, which is the typical method of solving conflicts among primates and many other animals.

"Sex among dwarf chimpanzees is in fact the business of the whole family, and the cute little ones often lend a helping hand when they engage in oral sex with each other," explains Peter Boekman of the Norwegian Natural History Museum.

Exhibition featuring homosexual animals


As if this is not enough the chimps have been recorded making objects to masturbate with. Anything that will bring two chimpanzees together is an excuse for sexual contact.

In an exhibition featuring homosexual animals at the Natural History Museum in Oslo, Norway, the most confounding items were pictures of two male giraffes having anal sex and two right whales rubbing their penises.

There was also a picture of two male killer whales ‘playing’ in the ocean — with their erections easily visible. At the Amazon River a case was recorded of a dolphin inserting its penis into another male’s blowhole (talk of nasal sex).

Among the apes it’s the female that create the continuity within the group, but sex is for bonding. The social network is maintained not only by sharing food and child rearing, but also by having sex.

Female apes often rub their abdomens against each other for sexual satisfaction. In animals with "bachelor groups" such as bison, gazelles, antelope, sage grouse and Guinean cocks-of-the-rock, it is not uncommon for same sex pair bonds to form and last until one or the other member departs the relationship and breeds.

Male walruses, for example, often form homosexual pairs and have sex with each other outside the breeding season, but will revert to a heterosexual pattern during the normal breeding season.

Being a male lion calls for a lot of erectile stamina



Research shows that 94 per cent of sexual activity among giraffes is between males.

Lions on the other hand often band together with their brothers to lead the pride. To ensure loyalty, they strengthen the bonds by often having sex with each other.

Being a male lion calls for a lot of erectile stamina because when a female is on heat it will demand sex up to 40 times a day, and there might be five or so in the pride.

So two males will sometimes share the pride and when they do, up to 8 per cent of their sexual activity will be between themselves. This leads to stability in the pride.

The situation is not different among dolphins and killer whales. The pairing of males and females is fleeting, while between males, a pair can stay together for years.

Meetings between different species can be quite violent, but the tension is eased through a "sex orgy". The strength of the bond between homosexual partners can be seen among male rhesus macaques, bottlenosed dolphins, and cheetahs.

One research found that homosexual pairs were distressed at being separated and ignored the opposite sex partners introduced to them.

However, they showed considerable joy and exuberance at the introduction of their homosexual partners.

‘The only vibrating dildo in the animal kingdom’


Most male bottlenose dolphins pair off with other males during their youth and will never bond with a female, even after mating.

Females of the species have been observed inserting a beak, flipper or back fin into the genitals of another female and then emitting a sonar whistle or call to make their body shake and create what Norwegian zoologist Petter Bockman calls "the only vibrating dildo in the animal kingdom".

A study focusing on giraffe mating habits in one particular area found that 94 per cent of all registered sexual activity took place between two males.

When homosexual bonding does occur in the absence of opposite sex pairs, members of such a pair often resist attempts to ‘convert’ them back into heterosexual relationship.

Even when deprived of their partner, white-fronted Amazon parrots will not revert, and long-eared hedgehogs have refused heterosexual partners for as long as two and half years, much of their natural lifetime.

In the case of stellar’s sea eagles and female barn owls, both housed without opposite sex members of their species, homosexual pair bonds among females were strong enough that when inseminated, they co-parented the chicks that resulted.

A jealous bonobo chimpanzee might chase another away from a female, after which the two males reunite and engage in scrotal rubbing.

Or after a female chimpanzee hits a juvenile, the latter’s mother may lunge at the aggressor, an action that is immediately followed by genital rubbing between the two adults.

Masturbation is also common in the animal kingdom

In some animals homosexuality is only practised in a part of their lives. This is mostly seen among birds that pair with one partner for life, as geese and ducks do.

Four to five per cent of such couples are homosexuals, and single females will lay eggs in a homosexual pair’s nest.

Homosexual couple often seems better at raising the young than heterosexual couples do. In a colony of black-headed gulls, one can be sure that almost every tenth pair is lesbian.

Masturbation is also common in the animal kingdom. This has been widely accepted as the simplest way to self-pleasure. But there are many animals that will masturbate when they have nothing better to do.

Many will use their paws, flippers, or, in the case of walruses, their muzzle for self-stimulation. Masturbation has been observed among primates, deer, killer whales and penguins, and here we are referring to both males and females.

They rub themselves against stones and roots. Orangutans are especially inventive because they have been known to make dildos out of wood and bark.

The male macaques, a species of monkey, will place their most tender body parts in another’s hand to strengthen their bond, or friendship.