Zoo romance isn’t so different from the human kind
As evidenced by the popularity of the new movie “March of the Penguins,” we humans find it fascinating when animals hook up.
It takes a lot to pack a theater for a documentary, and yet Americans have been captivated by this story of emperor penguins who travel across 70 miles of snow and ice in search of a mate.
I recently went to the Philadelphia Zoo for an adults-only “Up Close and Personal” tour to find out more about how animals date, court and mate. Just like people, animals spend much of their lives trying to spend quality time with the opposite sex. And, just like people, they do ridiculous things to get that quality time.
Tour guide Ron Fricke introduced us to some of the players of the animal world - such as peacocks, who display their feathers to woo peahens (female peacocks), similar to the way men flex (or at least suck in the gut) in an attempt to woo women.
After peacocks mate, however, the males take off, leaving the peachicks (the kids) to be raised by the females. Fortunately, nature has its revenge on dead-beat dads. “That beautiful feather display is great for attracting females, but it’s also great for attracting predators,” Fricke said.
Boys will be boys, and they will fight for their girls. Male pythons have a “courtship battle” involving vicious biting, and kangaroos actually box the guys who move in on their ladies. Maybe that’s because, according to Fricke, the female kangaroo is the most promiscuous animal in the kingdom.
Still, regardless of the consequences, we guys can’t live without our ladies. One male giraffe refused to eat when the females were separated from him, and as many as 25 male frogs will respond to one female frog’s mating call. (In the same way, if a woman posts an online profile saying she wants to mate immediately, 25 guys will promptly e-mail her.)