Gay groups in Germany are upset that officials at the Allwetter Zoo in Munster, Germany, have separated two male vultures who had set up nest-keeping together and were obviously a couple.
The two Griffon vultures, Guido and Detlef, have been a couple since March, according to U.K. news site The Register. They build a nest together, defended it from the other vultures, and spent most of their time together grooming each other.
But zoo curator Dirk Wewers apparently believed Detlef and Guido’s relationship was what I call situational homosexuality, like men in prison who have sex with other men because no women are available. Wewers said: “A suitable female was missing and in such a case vultures look for companionship from the next best thing, even if it is a male. Detlef looked for a bird of the opposite sex but settled with Guido.”
So the zoo decided to give the two other options by breaking up their happy home and sending Guido to a zoo in Ostrava, Czech Republic, where he would have access to female Griffon vultures. Meanwhile, Detlef, back in Munster, has been set up with a mail-order bride from the Czech Republic.
According to reports, Detlef’s “ex-gay therapy” appears to be working. But over in Ostrava, Guido is having none of it. Reports are he won’t have anything to do with the female vultures.
Both male vultures are 14 years old, which means both are still relative youngsters, since their lifespan in the wild is estimated at 50 to 70 years old. The oldest known Griffon vulture — or Great Vulture — in captivity died at the age of 118.
According to Wikipedia, Griffon vultures are on the brink of dying out, although there have been resurgent populations in some areas of Europe. In Germany, Griffon vultures in the wild died out in the mid-18th century, but, “Some 200 vagrant birds, probably from the Pyrenees, were sighted in 2006, and several dozen of the vagrants sighted in Belgium the following year crossed into Germany in search for food.”
So, OK — the idea of creating breeding pairs and replenishing the Griffon vulture population has merit. But still, it just doesn’t seem right to me to separate what was obviously a loving couple for the sake of making some baby vultures. I am sure there are plenty of other hetero male Griffon vultures available more than willing to take care of the breeding needs.
Either way, it gives new meaning to the old saying, “Birds of a feather flock together,” huh?
Ok…honestly….I’m a gay man, and feel strongly for our rights, but these kinds of stories are silly. These are two Birds…let’s worry a bit more about the human aspect of gay rights. Fussing over two “gay” Birds reduces the appearance of credibility in our sector. I think we have better things to worry about….seriously.
Cute story! I wish they could have stayed together, but I do understand the breeding aspect. I like the idea of their companionship. It’s so sweet!
This is why god created open relationships…they should have kept the guys together and brought in ladies for both of them…and @chris animals have more feelings than you think and to blow them off b/c they’re not at the top of the food chain is just plain arrogant. The reason why they are near extinction is because of human arrogance and feelings of superiority over the rest of the animal kingdom. Boy I was not planning on ranting on this topic…hehe
and btw proving that homosexuality exist in other species is probably one of the best strategies to fighting for human equality. Homophobes believe homosexuality is a human psychological condition which is not part of the natural process. Stories like this go against that argument.
Reverse logic: you’re a gay man. If there aren’t any “suitable” gay men around, do you hook up with a woman just because that happens to be what’s available at the time? “Situational heterosexuality”? Yeah, makes perfect sense.
After all this time if these 2 male Vultures have shown no interest in females- why not let them be.
As I’m writing this from Australia, I can see two male Kangaroo’s being very affectionate in the national park where we live. I’m not going to run out and move one to tasmania!
Gay is totally ‘normal’ in nature as it is in the human world.