Will ‘Gay’ Penguins Reject Reunion?
EmailThe “gay” penguin cause celebre of 2011 isn’t over just yet. Buddy and Pedro, the two inseparable male birds at the Toronto Zoo whose impending break-up sparked public outcry, will be reunited in the spring. But that doesn’t mean they’ll want to pair up again.
As ABCNews.com reported last week, the two will be split up approximately one week from now for breeding season. Zookeepers want them to breed with females to help populate the species, which is endangered. But when the breeding season is over, all the African penguins will eventually return to the same enclosure, and “if Buddy and Pedro want to be together … they will be back together,” said Tom Mason, Toronto Zoo curator of birds.
But will they want to stay together after copulating and bonding with a female?
Before Buddy arrived at the Toronto Zoo, he paired with a female for “quite a few years,” and they had eggs together, Mason told ABCNews.com.
Buddy, 21, and Pedro, 10, lived in a zoo in Toledo, Ohio, before traveling to Canada to become part of the Toronto Zoo’s first African penguin exhibit in 18 years. Zookeepers quickly observed courtship and mating behaviors that are typically exhibited only between males and females, such as braying at one another, grooming each other, and standing side-by-side.
But if they each pair with a female who produces an egg, that’s a big incentive to stay with their new mates. According to P. Dee Boersma, a biology professor at the University of Washington, penguins usually get “divorced” because they fail to raise young.
“They are much more likely to divorce after a nest failure than if they are successful with their mate,” she says in a video on her website. “Those birds will tend to be faithful.”
The Toronto Zoo’s species survival plan aims to help the endangered penguins populate, but the process can’t be forced. It all depends on how well they “get along” with the female penguins.
Kevin McGowan of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in Ithaca, N.Y., told ABCNews.com. “The way penguins work is they do get paired for a long time. Basically, the only other penguin they care about is their mate, so it’s important for them to find somebody who’s compatible.”
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Nuke the Gay Penguins for Jesus !!
Posted by: Mingo | November 15, 2011, 12:54 pm 12:54 pm
“Gay” penguins give me a break, anything for gay publicity, lets be serious and acknowledge scientific evidence, that those two penguins are exhibiting a bond like some animals such as a chimp or a human with a friend. Chimps groom each other, so does that mean theyre gay or lesbian? Not against being gay or lesbian but lets be serious.
Posted by: abc123 | November 15, 2011, 1:11 pm 1:11 pm
How disgusting that the zoo would try to force heterosexuality on naturally gay creatures.
Posted by: Dusgusted at Toronto | November 15, 2011, 2:08 pm 2:08 pm
ABC123 clearly you are an experience zoologist or marine biologist. Otherwise you’d simply be casting dispersions on the opinions of experts in a field you know nothing about.
Posted by: cicclinton | November 15, 2011, 2:18 pm 2:18 pm
Two unrelated 11th grade boys wake up one morning. Before going to school They each decide to act on urges and feelings they’ve had for some time. One boy has his first homosexual encounter. The other boy commits a murder. Were they born to be a killer and homosexual? Or, was only the killer born that way? Only the homosexual? They both had urges and feelings. The urges were just as real for both. Who would try to argue that one boy was born a certain way while the other simply acted on urges? I bet there are many who would…..so sad.
Posted by: whatnext | November 15, 2011, 4:50 pm 4:50 pm
@WHATNEXT – The urges would’ve been “born with” , each are biologically engrained within the certain individuals, hence why it is known that homosexuality and psychopathy are biologically engrained within certain individuals. I have no idea what you meant by that argument but it seems like it came out of your ass.
Also I don’t see why we’re trying to argue on the subject of homosexuality. It’s known that it is biologically derived in several species including humans. In sheep it was shown that heterosexual and homosexual individuals had different brain morphologies. This may be the case with humans as well. Some biologists also feel it may be influenced by environment , the bigger the population, the more homosexuality is likely to “control” the amount of individuals within a population to protect from overbreeding.
Posted by: .. | November 15, 2011, 9:27 pm 9:27 pm
There was a public outcry? LOL What matters most… trying to save the species, or letting two supposed “gay” penguins stay together so they can groom each other and stand side-by-side? Some people need to stop projecting their own agendas onto EVERYTHING! It’s like those people who can see Jesus in grilled cheese if they look hard enough. Seriously, they’re penguins!
Posted by: Ivan&Al | November 15, 2011, 10:23 pm 10:23 pm
Why are people so concerned that two male penguins have bonded and are going to be separated? What if they go and bond and reproduce with a female and then are separated after they bond? Naturally a bonded male and female that reproduce stay together, however in this casse they will be separated. To me it seems that to be more unfortunate.
Posted by: BRANDI | November 16, 2011, 1:15 am 1:15 am
Gay penguins? What a ratings gimmick. More like penguin friends. When they mate male on male then let’s talk about gay penguins. Falsifying statements does not bring any news casters credibility. You should know better abc news.
Posted by: Cramen | November 16, 2011, 7:36 am 7:36 am
All small minded Americans should be put in concentration style camps. Even this reporter how utterly backward your country is.
Posted by: Paul | November 16, 2011, 12:59 pm 12:59 pm
I’m afraid I have to agree with Cramen…I wouldn’t call them gay unless they try to mate with each other. Maybe they’re metrosexual. I guess we’ll know for sure when they are reunited after the mating season.
Posted by: ARF40 | November 16, 2011, 2:40 pm 2:40 pm
@Paul – Someone who thinks ANYONE should be put into a concentration (“style” or not) camp, shouldn’t be passing judgment on others. Please go take your meds, your doctor will be around shortly.
Posted by: Ivan&Al | November 16, 2011, 5:30 pm 5:30 pm
The author is just assuming that pedro and buddy will accept opposite sex partners for mating season. Its just as likely that they will spend the time in mourning for the separation.
Posted by: David D | November 16, 2011, 6:01 pm 6:01 pm
I am not too sure how much $$ it costs to transport penguins during mating season, but couldn’t the Tononto zoo collect penguin sperm and ship it out to zoos with the female penguins for at least the same amount of money or less? Who is to say the boy penguins will even have contact with those girl penguins after spending all that $$ to transport them? ;o)
Posted by: Haven | November 17, 2011, 9:56 am 9:56 am
Brokeback Iceberg?
Posted by: Phillip | November 30, 2011, 12:58 am 12:58 am
why not ship sperm? I do believe that raising baby penguins takes two and is not like most other animals you might do this to. So that could be why. I have to say that I think a previous poster is correct…if these two male penguins had mated that would be considered gay. I see two bachlors live together to save on rent does this mean they are gay? No….just that they get along good. this is a really silly article and I think the gays are so desperate for everyone to see their sinful lifestyles are “normal” that they will look for any way to further this agenda.
Posted by: tiffany | December 8, 2011, 12:04 am 12:04 am
These are bisexual Penguins… If they are get split for mating season
Posted by: Hilarious | December 8, 2011, 12:34 pm 12:34 pm