Sunday 12 April 2009

Pink elephants

What Syd Walker is doing trawling Polish websites, is beyond me.

However, he pointed me to a rather interesting story after a Polish politician criticised a local zoo for acquiring a gay elephant named Ninio. It turns out that Ninio prefers male companions. Local media report that he will probably not procreate.

"We didn't pay 37 million zlotys ($15.4 million AUD) for the largest elephant house in Europe to have a gay elephant live there," Michal Grzes, a conservative councillor in the city of Poznan said. "We were supposed to have a herd, but as Ninio prefers male friends over females how will he produce offspring?" Grzes says.

However, the Zoo keeper says that 10-year-old Ninio may be too young to decide whether he prefers males or females as elephants only reach sexual maturity at 14.
Readers may, or may not, be surprised that many animals have homosexual behaviour. Many mammals, birds, and even fish are gay. Bruce Bagemihl in Biological Exuberance showed that indeed they are.
I recall National MP John Banks, at the height of the 1984 homosexual law reform debate in New Zealand, infamously claimed "You wouldn't get sheep doing it!"
Have a giggle at Ricky Gervais, talking animals.

No comments: