For the first time in recorded history, gorillas are found having sexual relations with other female gorillas.
Associate Professor Dr. Cyril Grueter,
a primate expert from the University of Western Australia made the
discovery and believes the behaviour was instigated by mere sexual
arousal and nothing more.
After coming upon the strange behaviour when trying
to study the feeding ecology of mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Grueter
then went on to try and understand what motivated the sexual pattern.
In the study that followed, the Australian found that
the sexuality of female gorillas was very flexible, a finding which
corresponds with another earlier research which found that female humans
are more adaptable in their sexuality than men, he said. “The
female gorillas are quite flexible when it comes to sexuality, they can
easily switch from a preference for males to a preference for females,” Dr Grueter said.
He added that: “When the male is not available
they try to entice another female to mate with them. Out of 22 female
gorillas across two separate groups studied, 18 were found to engage in
sexual activity with other females, including engaging in genital
rubbing. We believe it is simply a function of sexual arousal.”
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