Hot monkey love....

It is hard to summarise love in 200 words but that is just what I did last week when a nice lady from Harper Collins emailed and asked if I could contribute to a Valentines Day blog to celebrate the launch of a new book. Said book is a fabulous collection of love stories edited by Jeffrey Eugenides. Having written a lot about love lately, I was only too happy to continue the theme. You can read it here.

But today’s themed vote for romance goes to Leah and George. Leah and George are two Gorillas’ from the Congo. Leah, the female, has already made history by becoming the first gorilla ever to be photographed using a tool. That’s not an innuendo. In 2005 she was photographed testing the depth of a lake with a stick before wading in. Humans would do well to take heed. This month, the pair made Simian history by becoming the first animals ever to be photographed mating in a face to face position.

Writing in the Gorilla Gazette, a team from the Wildlife Conservation society said:

‘Leah was lying on the ground and George was looking into Leah's eyes.’

Diane Doran-Sheehy, anthropology chair at Stony Brook University has observed more than 500 gorilla matings in the wild—and none were face-to-face.

‘It is an interesting observation and raises questions about why they sometimes engage in it,’ she said.

There may be practical considerations given the apes’ marshy habitat, for example.

‘Perhaps a female doesn’t want to be face down in the swamp,’ Doran-Sheehy said.

Or maybe they just looooooooooooove each other?

Comments

[DJ Kirkby]

Beautiful love stories, both the human and gorilla one!