Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Thu, Jun 24 2004
Male Seeking Female With All The Charm Of A Gorilla
Humans can be so silly and arrogant when it comes to other species, even in our narrow-minded attempts to preserve their kind. Why assume that Casey the gorilla will mate with just any female gorilla that happens to be in his path? Doesn't he have the right to be selective? And when he doesn't perform, the first thing the clueless people do is get out a sex video to steam things up. Does anybody care what Casey wants? Or what the female gorillas in the zoo want?
Maybe there are reasons other than obvious human ones that Casey does not choose a mate from among those presented to him. Species have a lot of built-in instincts and mechanisms that encourage the best reproductive situations for a long-lasting, healthy line of future populations. Maybe the females with Casey possess none of the inherited characteristics that would produce the best offspring when coupled with Casey's attributes. Humans may not know this, on a human level. But Casey might know this very well, on a gorilla level.
The Gorilla Foundation has spent decades teaching sign language to lowland gorillas. If sex how-to videos aren't encouraging Casey the gorilla to get the idea, why assume the problem is his? Maybe it's the humans who have failed, by not providing him with just the kind of partner he wants. Here's a thought. Why don't the humans at the zoo contact the nice people at The Gorilla Foundation, and get Koko the gorilla to ask Casey the gorilla what he seeks in a female? Then Koko can sign Casey's answer for the humans. Why teach gorillas to sign at all, if we aren't going to use the language gift to help other gorillas? People spend all this money here and there, studying this or that animal, and still miss the obvious point that the best way to figure out how to help a gorilla propagate the species might just be through another gorilla.
posted at: 07:38 | category: /Science | link to this entry
Humans can be so silly and arrogant when it comes to other species, even in our narrow-minded attempts to preserve their kind. Why assume that Casey the gorilla will mate with just any female gorilla that happens to be in his path? Doesn't he have the right to be selective? And when he doesn't perform, the first thing the clueless people do is get out a sex video to steam things up. Does anybody care what Casey wants? Or what the female gorillas in the zoo want?
Maybe there are reasons other than obvious human ones that Casey does not choose a mate from among those presented to him. Species have a lot of built-in instincts and mechanisms that encourage the best reproductive situations for a long-lasting, healthy line of future populations. Maybe the females with Casey possess none of the inherited characteristics that would produce the best offspring when coupled with Casey's attributes. Humans may not know this, on a human level. But Casey might know this very well, on a gorilla level.
The Gorilla Foundation has spent decades teaching sign language to lowland gorillas. If sex how-to videos aren't encouraging Casey the gorilla to get the idea, why assume the problem is his? Maybe it's the humans who have failed, by not providing him with just the kind of partner he wants. Here's a thought. Why don't the humans at the zoo contact the nice people at The Gorilla Foundation, and get Koko the gorilla to ask Casey the gorilla what he seeks in a female? Then Koko can sign Casey's answer for the humans. Why teach gorillas to sign at all, if we aren't going to use the language gift to help other gorillas? People spend all this money here and there, studying this or that animal, and still miss the obvious point that the best way to figure out how to help a gorilla propagate the species might just be through another gorilla.
posted at: 07:38 | category: /Science | link to this entry
