(IN): No difference between human and insect

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No difference between human and insectBy: Maneka Gandhi

Article published on 6/29/2009 11:36:57 PM IST

 

As I learn more about the beings of this planet , I realize there is no

difference between the human and the insect. The only difference is perhaps

our destructiveness. Here is another example of our similarity.While

countries waste time on making laws on ridiculous issues like abortion and

homosexuality, the rest of the animal world takes these issues as natural.

University of Oslo’s Natural History Museum in Norway has put up a

first-ever museum display “Against Nature?,” which presents 51 species of

animals exhibiting homosexuality.

Homosexuality is defined as sex between two or more members of the same sex

in the same species. Dragonflies, spiders, crabs, shellfish, gutworms, bats,

whales and dolphins far from being unnatural, homosexuality is a normal part

of the animal world. “Homosexuality” and “heterosexuality” are terms defined

by human societies. These boundaries are invisible in the animal kingdom.

Homosexual and bisexual animals, range from mountain gorillas to cats, dogs

and guinea pigs. The animal kingdomrejoices in all kinds of

lifestyles.Studies of animal homosexuality are centuries old. In 1896,

French entomologist Henri Gadeau de Kerville published a drawing of two male

scarab beetles copulating.

In the early 1900s, investigators described homosexual behavior in baboons,

salmon, garter snakes and gentoo penguins. In 1914 Gilbert Hamilton reported

in the Journal of Animal Behavior that same-sex behavior in Japanese

macaques and baboons occurred largely as a way of making peace with would-be

foes. He wrote “homosexual alliances between mature and immature males

insure the assistance of an adult defender in the event of an attack.”How

similar to the “insurance” bonding of humans in jail ! In 1999 Bruce

Bagemihl, a biologist at the University of Wisconsin, published a book.

Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity. Bagemihl

found that homosexuality had been documented in 1,500 species. T he earliest

mention of animal homosexuality probably came 2,300 years ago when Aristotle

described two female hyenas cavorting with each other. Not only does

homosexual behavior exist in nearly every species (as demonstrated by

thousands of studies beginning with Konrad Lorenz, the father of modern

zoology) but as one goes up the evolutionary ladder from insects to humans,

homosexual activity increases in frequency .Roy and Silo, two male chinstrap

penguins at the Central Park Zoo in Manhattan are inseparable. They entwine

their necks, vocalize to each other, they have sex.

Last survivor of ‘unsinkable’ Titanic dies at 97 05.31.09 When offered

female companionship, they have adamantly refused . The females aren’t

interested in them, either. At one time, the two were so desperate to

incubate an egg together that they put a rock in their nest and sat on it,

keeping it warm with their abdomens. Finally, the keeper gave them a fertile

egg to hatch. A chick, Tango, was born. They raised Tango, keeping her warm

and feeding her until she could go out into the world on her own.A pair of

gay vultures at the Jerusalem Zoo have shown the world just how caring gay

adoptive parents can be. Israeli zoologist Shmuel Yidov slipped a day-old

vulture chick into their nest.

The two fathers reared the baby. They shaded him , brought him water from a

pond, fed him, stopped him falling from the nest. Biology professor Joan

Roughgarden at Stanford University, in her book “Evolution’s Rainbow” says,

mating isn’t only about multiplying. Like humans, animals have sex just for

fun or love or to cement their social bonds. Some female grizzly bears form

partnerships, travel together, defend each other, raise cubs together and

putting off hibernation in an attempt to stay together longer.

Scientists have found homosexual behavior throughout the animal world. Same

sex pairs of animals kiss and caress each other with obvious tenderness.

Male pairs and female pairs form long-lasting pair-bonds and even fight off

potential opposite sex partners when they appear. Members of the pair show

distress at being separated from their partners and joy when reunited. Even

when they lose their same sex partner, white-fronted Amazon parrots will not

revert. So will gay Long-eared hedgehogs, Stellar’s sea eagles and barn

owls,. Swans are the symbols of eternal romantic love. But one fifth of the

couples are all male or all female. Male couples mate with a female just to

have a baby. Once she lays the egg, they chase her away, hatch the egg, and

raise a family on their own. Sometimes they steal the eggs and become model

parents.

Male flamingoes and other birds will have one-night stands with females to

produce eggs, then chase off the mother and rear the offspring with another

male. 12% of roseate tern couples are female-female pairs who fertilize

their eggs through a quick fling with males, and then remain faithful to

each other for years. Five percent of geese and duck couples do the same.

Single females will lay eggs in a homosexual pair’s nest. In a colony of

black-headed gulls, every tenth pair is lesbian. 15 percent of female

western gulls are gay.

They woo each other with gifts of food and form bonds that last for years.

They build joint nests. Occasionally, one or both females will mate with

males, but they always raise their young together. Two percent of male

ostriches ignore females and court males with a dance that involves running

toward the chosen partner, skidding to a stop in front of him, pirouetting,

crouching, rocking, fluffing feathers, puffing their throats and twisting

their necks like a corkscrew. Male giraffes spend most of their time in

bachelor groups, where they entwine necks and rub against each other for

hours at a time. These “necking” sessions often culminate in

mounting.Homosexuality is common among young male dolphin calves.

According to researchers, since male-male cooperation is extremely important

for adult survival, the homosexual behavior of the young calves could be

aimed at establishing lifelong bonds. Male walruses, often form homosexual

pair bonds and have sex with each other outside of the breeding season, but

will revert to a heterosexual pattern during the normal breeding season..

Male big horn sheep live in “homosexual societies.” If a male sheep chooses

to not have gay sex, he becomes a social outcast ! The male and female

bighorn sheep unite during the rutting season, but the rest of the year the

males stick together. The more social the species, the more likely it is to

engage in homosexual activity, the exhibition argues. “Many social animals

have complex social systems where individuals seek out allies for help and

protection. Sex is an important way of strengthening the alliance.” In fact,

advanced animal communities, which require communal bonds in order to

function are more likely to have homosexuality intermixed with

heterosexuality. Japanese Macaque society revolves around females, who

dominate the group. Males come and go. To help maintain the necessary social

networks, female macaques are lesbian.

These friendly copulations, form the bedrock of macaque society, preventing

unnecessary violence and aggression. In fact females will choose to mate

with another female, as opposed to a male, 92.5% of the time. Bonobos, dwarf

chimpanzees, engage in sexual behavior to ease social tensions and avoid

conflict. For instance, if two bonobos approach a box thrown into their

enclosure, they will mount each other before playing with the box.

Such situations lead to squabbles in most other species. But bonobos use sex

to diffuse tension.In Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape, primatologist Frans de Waal

writes that he has observed hundreds of such incidents, suggesting that

these homosexual acts may be a general peacekeeping strategy. “The more

homosexuality, the more peaceful the species,” asserts Petter Bckman of the

University of Oslo’s Museum of Natural History Other animals mount animals

of the same sex but their motivation may differ.

Dogs usually do so to express dominance. Domesticated cattle mount each

other as stress relieving behaviour. Male lions often band together with

their brothers to lead the pride. To ensure loyalty, they strengthen the

bonds by having sex with each other. A statement in the exhibition says, “

One thing is clear -- homosexuality is found throughout the animal kingdom,

it is not against nature.”

 

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