Penguins Not Gay, Just Lonely!

Poor Wittle Pengwins.

Last year, there was a big kerfuffle over a bunch of gay penguins which where sashaying to and fro in Antarctica (it’s gotta be cold there, dontcha think?).

I like to keep apprised of penguin goings-on, so I wrote about the gay penguin phenomenon, and how some slutty lady penguin broke up a happy homo home.

Well, as it turns out, the homoguins aren’t gay at all! They’re just lonely because there aren’t enough penguin bitches around to get their stank on with:

The homosexual behaviour of male king penguins has already been noted in zoos.

Now in a new study, scientists have found the evidence of male pairs in the wild. The research found that more than a quarter of the colony in Antarctica were in same sex partners, mostly two males.

In the past, it was claimed that penguins could not discern between the sexes because they looked alike. Male pairs in zoos in the US and Germany have hatched and reared ‘adopted’ chicks.

However the new study by the Centre for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology in Montpellier, France found that the penguins are only pairing up with other males because they are “lonely”.

There are not enough females in the colony and the males have high levels of testosterone, which drives them to engage in mating displays – even if it is with other males.

During the mating season king penguins “flirt” with potential partners by closing their eyes, stretching their heads skyward and moving them in a half-circle to “take peeks” at one another.

The male pairs engaged in the displays for short periods of time but did not bond in the same way as a heterosexual pair would, by learning each other’s calls or caring for eggs.

I bet when these penguins get released from the icy prisons, they’ll go home to their penguin wives talkin’ ’bout being on the down low.

Teh gay.  It’s catching!

(H/T Danielle!)