Koala gay sex in captivity

Female koalas observed to have lesbian sex in captivityResearchers at University of Queensland, Australia have reported that they found female koalas indulging in 'lesbian sex sessions' immediately after rejecting male suitors and attempting to mate with each other, sometimes up to five at a time.

Although the marsupials appear to develop the tendency for same-sex liaisons when they are in captivity, researchers say they would remain heterosexual in the wild. Based on their study of 130 koalas in captivity, the researchers counted three homosexual interactions for every heterosexual one.

"On several occasions more than one pair of females shared the same pole, and multiple females mounted each other simultaneously. At least one multiple encounter involved five female koalas. One theory put forward by the researchers is that the females do it to attract males; another is that it is simply hormonal, or that it is a stress reliever.

"Our aim was to determine the extent of differences in the homosexual and heterosexual behaviour of female koalas and thereby to determine the purpose of female homosexual behaviour in the koala," say the researchers. "Wild koalas brought into captivity clearly display homosexual behaviour on a regular basis.

A total of 15 heterosexual and 43 homosexual interactions were recorded in separate animals. Homosexual behaviour was restricted to females only. Heterosexual encounters were typically twice as long as homosexual encounters," they add.The results will be published in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science.

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