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there should be a law

don

Well-known member
conservative penguins are going to have a problem with this.



Gay penguin couple adopts abandoned egg in German zoo
Last Updated: Friday, June 5, 2009 | 3:53 PM ET Comments318Recommend335CBC News
Two male Humboldt penguins cautiously guard the entrance to their cave in the zoological park in Bremerhaven, northern Germany, where they are foster dads to a six-week-old penguin chick. (Focke Strangmann/Associated Press)Keepers at Germany's Bremerhaven zoo couldn't get two penguin parents to take care of their egg, so they're trying an experiment — they gave the egg to a gay male penguin couple.

The biological parents "always rolled the egg out of their nest, they kicked it out again and again," zoo veterinarian Joachim Schoene said.

"Then we made the decision not to give it up and instead try to give it two fathers."

So far, the experiment has been a success. The two foster dads incubated the egg for 30 days until it hatched and have continued to care for the newborn chick.

The male penguins, named Z and Vielpunkt, are one of three same-sex pairs of Humboldt penguins at the zoo. That means almost a third of the zoo's 20 penguins who have attempted to mate exhibit homosexual behaviour. Same-sex penguin pairs have also been observed at zoos in Japan and New York.

The behaviour is not considered unusual because homosexuality has been well documented in the animal kingdom.

Scientific observation has shown that most sexual encounters between giraffes are homosexual. Male bottlenose dolphin calves often form homosexual bonds and exhibit bisexual behaviour when they're older. And female Japanese macaques, or snow monkeys, form monogamous relationships with each other that last from days to weeks.

All of these behaviours have been observed in the wild and do not appear to have been influenced by a scarcity of available mates of the opposite sex.

A similar experiment was performed at New York City's Central Park Zoo in 2004. Two male chinstrap penguins named Roy and Silo incubated an egg together and raised the chick, called Tango, when she hatched.

A children's book written about the New York penguins called And Tango Makes Three has been the book with the most requests for removal from libraries in the United States over the past three years, according the American Library Association.

Z, Vielpunkt and their adopted chick have proven a hit with visitors to the Bremerhaven zoo.
 

don

Well-known member
so you don't get the irony. with your homophobia you can judge what is 'natural'. maybe nature isn't what you want to believe or maybe the scriptures aren't infallible?
 

alice

Well-known member
don said:
so you don't get the irony. with your homophobia you can judge what is 'natural'. maybe nature isn't what you want to believe or maybe the scriptures aren't infallible?

Don,

I've been trying to type a response to this and all I've been able to come up with is...well, it is instances where the homophobes will make really nasty comments. So, I am simply going to say, thank you for this. Being a human with a compassionate heart trumps being a homophobe or a racist...nature proves this...as much as the homophobes or racists would like to preach otherwise.

Alice
 

Steve

Well-known member
don said:
so you don't get the irony. with your homophobia you can judge what is 'natural'. maybe nature isn't what you want to believe or maybe the scriptures aren't infallible?


how is "zoo life" natural?

How is being stuck in a cage natural?

how is living your entire life from birth to maturity with out knowing a single female exists natural?

so in your world penguins are "naturally" stuck in a cage with no females for their entire life?

and you use that as an example to bash my faith?
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
alice said:
don said:
so you don't get the irony. with your homophobia you can judge what is 'natural'. maybe nature isn't what you want to believe or maybe the scriptures aren't infallible?

Don,

I've been trying to type a response to this and all I've been able to come up with is...well, it is instances where the homophobes will make really nasty comments. So, I am simply going to say, thank you for this. Being a human with a compassionate heart trumps being a homophobe or a racist...nature proves this...as much as the homophobes or racists would like to preach otherwise.

Alice

Yep- Alice and I'm a true believer that my God will judge you by how you treated your fellow man/woman than by how many hours you spend sitting on the Church Pew- or preaching how religious you are....
 

Steve

Well-known member
don said:
there should be a law


your right.. zoos should not raise isolate and cage any animal in a environment that is not natural.. as it could cause un-natural behavior in the animals..
 

Steve

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
alice said:
don said:
so you don't get the irony. with your homophobia you can judge what is 'natural'. maybe nature isn't what you want to believe or maybe the scriptures aren't infallible?

Don,

I've been trying to type a response to this and all I've been able to come up with is...well, it is instances where the homophobes will make really nasty comments. So, I am simply going to say, thank you for this. Being a human with a compassionate heart trumps being a homophobe or a racist...nature proves this...as much as the homophobes or racists would like to preach otherwise.

Alice

Yep- Alice and I'm a true believer that my God will judge you by how you treated your fellow man/woman than by how many hours you spend sitting on the Church Pew- or preaching how religious you are....

How will your GOD judge a person who uses an un-natural example of caged birds as a reason for bashing yours and others faith?
 

don

Well-known member
try the decaf steve. the bible has been used here on a number of occasions to condemn homosexuality as being unnatural and i was pointing out maybe it's not a valid argument. go ahead and practice whatever faith but hypocrisy should be noted. the article states homosexuality is not unknown in natural situations so the zoo setting might be one factor but not necessarily the cause of the behaviour. i didn't bash anybody's faith.
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
don said:
so you don't get the irony. with your homophobia you can judge what is 'natural'. maybe nature isn't what you want to believe or maybe the scriptures aren't infallible?

So what is "natural" with caged penguins is "natural" with all species, and thus, what we should base our laws on?

Don't you think this is just a wee bit of a stretch?

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 

Steve

Well-known member
don said:
try the decaf steve. the bible has been used here on a number of occasions to condemn homosexuality as being unnatural and i was pointing out maybe it's not a valid argument. go ahead and practice whatever faith but hypocrisy should be noted. the article states homosexuality is not unknown in natural situations so the zoo setting might be one factor but not necessarily the cause of the behaviour. i didn't bash anybody's faith.

there you go again... bashing faith.. why not leave faith out of your comments?

Don, if you want to believe in caged gay birds,.. feel free it is your right to do so as a Canadian,,.. but your intolerance of others' faith shows.. just as you contempt for our great country..
 

VanC

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
I'm a true believer that my God will judge you by how you treated your fellow man/woman than by how many hours you spend sitting on the Church Pew- or preaching how religious you are....

I don't often agree with OT, especially when he constantly blames President Bush and all Republicans for all that is wrong with the world, but he's right on the money on this one. I believe in God, but He is a loving God. People who use the bible to condemn others make me more than a little queasy.

As for don's original post, well, if he's trying to point out that sometimes two gay parents are better than two straight parents, then I've gotta agree with that, too. All I ask is that we give that child a chance. Don't kill it before it's given a chance.
 

Mike

Well-known member
"There Should Be A Law."

There is a law: Homosexual penguins cannot marry nor can they adopt human children. :roll:

What has penguins got to do with humans anyway? :roll:
 

CattleArmy

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
alice said:
don said:
so you don't get the irony. with your homophobia you can judge what is 'natural'. maybe nature isn't what you want to believe or maybe the scriptures aren't infallible?

Don,

I've been trying to type a response to this and all I've been able to come up with is...well, it is instances where the homophobes will make really nasty comments. So, I am simply going to say, thank you for this. Being a human with a compassionate heart trumps being a homophobe or a racist...nature proves this...as much as the homophobes or racists would like to preach otherwise.

Alice

Yep- Alice and I'm a true believer that my God will judge you by how you treated your fellow man/woman than by how many hours you spend sitting on the Church Pew- or preaching how religious you are....

On this point I agree with you 100%.
 

CattleArmy

Well-known member
Mike said:
"There Should Be A Law."

There is a law: Homosexual penguins cannot marry nor can they adopt human children. :roll:

What has penguins got to do with humans anyway? :roll:

Somethings nobody expects you to get.
 

Mrs.Greg

Well-known member
VanC said:
Oldtimer said:
I'm a true believer that my God will judge you by how you treated your fellow man/woman than by how many hours you spend sitting on the Church Pew- or preaching how religious you are....

I don't often agree with OT, especially when he constantly blames President Bush and all Republicans for all that is wrong with the world, but he's right on the money on this one. I believe in God, but He is a loving God. People who use the bible to condemn others make me more than a little queasy.

As for don's original post, well, if he's trying to point out that sometimes two gay parents are better than two straight parents, then I've gotta agree with that, too. All I ask is that we give that child a chance. Don't kill it before it's given a chance.
I was gone all weekend and almost missed these excellent posts....glad I didn't.... :)
 
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