Mad as a Marine Biologist

High-res Should Gay, Endangered Penguins Be Forced to Mate? By John R. Platt What do you do when a species is rapidly disappearing in the wild and two of its most likely in-captivity studs decide to cuddle with each other instead of with eligible bachelorettes? That’s the problem Toronto Zoo is encountering this week as two endangered male African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) recently brought to the zoo for breeding purposes seem more concerned with spending time with one another than with two eager females. … African penguins (also known as black-footed penguins) only live on South Africa’s southern coast. Their population in the wild has dropped nearly 75 percent in the past two decades, from as estimated 225,000 in the 1990s to around 60,000 today, most likely due to changes in food availability brought on by climate change. …  With the penguins’ wild population at risk, zoos are actively taking up the breeding mantle. According to the National Post, “the sexual partners of almost all captive African penguins are carefully mapped out by researchers at Chicago’s Population Management Center. There, penguins are paired, split up and even moved to different zoos purely on the basis of maximizing genetic diversity.” … Separating the two male penguins might be enough to get them breeding. A study released in 2010 by the Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology and published in Ethnology found that supposedly gay penguins weren’t solely attracted to the same gender, but were instead just “lonely.” ** Stupid title, but quite the little controversy! ** 

Should Gay, Endangered Penguins Be Forced to Mate?

By John R. Platt

What do you do when a species is rapidly disappearing in the wild and two of its most likely in-captivity studs decide to cuddle with each other instead of with eligible bachelorettes?

That’s the problem Toronto Zoo is encountering this week as two endangered male African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) recently brought to the zoo for breeding purposes seem more concerned with spending time with one another than with two eager females.

…

African penguins (also known as black-footed penguins) only live on South Africa’s southern coast. Their population in the wild has dropped nearly 75 percent in the past two decades, from as estimated 225,000 in the 1990s to around 60,000 today, most likely due to changes in food availability brought on by climate change.

…

 With the penguins’ wild population at risk, zoos are actively taking up the breeding mantle. According to the National Post, “the sexual partners of almost all captive African penguins are carefully mapped out by researchers at Chicago’s Population Management Center. There, penguins are paired, split up and even moved to different zoos purely on the basis of maximizing genetic diversity.”

…

Separating the two male penguins might be enough to get them breeding. A study released in 2010 by the Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology and published in Ethnology found that supposedly gay penguins weren’t solely attracted to the same gender, but were instead just “lonely.”

** Stupid title, but quite the little controversy! ** 

Notes

  1. rainydaysmile reblogged this from rhamphotheca and added:
    Should Gay, Endangered Penguins Be Forced to Mate? By John R. Platt What do you do when a species is rapidly...
  2. the-value-of-life reblogged this from mad-as-a-marine-biologist and added:
    Interesting read. Still working out were I stand on the issue… I do however think seperating them would be really sad...
  3. mygearsarestartingtotremble reblogged this from fishkeeper
  4. moviesorientated reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  5. saere-nord reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  6. quay-cur reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  7. jedikittie reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  8. fishkeeper reblogged this from thejives and added:
    ^this^
  9. pureaka reblogged this from rhamphotheca and added:
    Why are they automatically “gay” if they want to stay with each other? :|
  10. marcheesy reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  11. collectandcollatethoughtdisorder reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  12. mira-culos reblogged this from rhamphotheca and added:
    Can the zoo not use their sperm to artificially inseminate their potential mates?
  13. erinmar13 reblogged this from rhamphotheca and added:
    just a thought here, but… couldn’t they just collect “samples” from the penguins, inseminate the females and leave these...
  14. yungkiiddex reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  15. wolfiewooz reblogged this from rhamphotheca and added:
    Fuck ya’ll, let those penguins be delightfully homo, and get two other male penguins for breeding purposes!
  16. zooophagous reblogged this from rhamphotheca and added:
    The whole gay rights issue is really a non issue here considering that these are penguins and not people. Animal couples...
  17. livefreeandforever reblogged this from rhamphotheca
  18. rhamphotheca reblogged this from mad-as-a-marine-biologist and added:
    Should Gay, Endangered Penguins Be Forced to Mate? By John R. Platt What do you do when a species is rapidly...
  19. tessen- reblogged this from thejives
  20. thejives reblogged this from mad-as-a-marine-biologist and added:
    My understanding is that the Species Survival Plan is a carefully organized breeding program designed to maintain...
  21. kissmypetunia reblogged this from mad-as-a-marine-biologist
  22. hintofsmile reblogged this from mad-as-a-marine-biologist
  23. mad-as-a-marine-biologist posted this