Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity

Cheetah (Eaton 1974a:116); Zebra Finch (Immelmann et al. 1982:422). The assessment for Cheetahs is particularly inappropriate in light of the fact that heterosexual activity is extremely difficult to observe in this species in the wild. As mentioned in chapter 1, during one ten-year study of Cheetahs, no heterosexual matings were seen over 5,000 hours of observation, and copulation has only been observed a total of five times in the wild during the entire scientific study of this species (Caro 1994:42). It is hardly surprising, therefore, that homosexual courtship and mating activity has so far only been seen in captivity. It should also be pointed out that male “coalitions” (bonded pairs or trios) have been observed in both wild and captive Cheetahs (wild [Caro and Collins 1986, 1987; Caro 1994]; captive [Eaton and Craig 1973:223; Ruiz-Miranda et al. 1998]). The assumption that sex segregation is completely “artificial” for male Cheetahs living in captivity is also false (see discussion below).

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Fedigan 1982:143 (Japanese Macaque). See also Crews et al. (1983:228-30) and Crews and Young (1991:514) for similar statements challenging the supposed “abnormalcy” of same-sex copulation among Whiptail Lizards in captivity versus the wild.

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In a few cases, specific homosexual activities, rather than the occurrence of homosexuality itself, have been observed in only wild or captive conditions. In Bonobos, for example, penis-fencing (a form of genital rubbing) has only been seen in the wild, while fellatio has only been observed in captivity (de Waal 1997:103–4). In addition, the duration of sexual acts can vary contextually: for example, de Waal (1987:326) found that episodes of genital rubbing between female Bonobos were considerably shorter in captivity (averaging around 9 seconds) than in the wild (averaging around 15 seconds).

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Orang-utan (Nadler 1988: 107); Hamadryas Baboon (Kummer and Kurt 1965:74); Mule Deer (Halford et al. 1987:107); Musk-ox (Reinhardt 1985:298).

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