for Magnet and Alaska, two fine, floppy polar bears with a new $7 million, sensorially enriched "Arctic habitat" at their disposal, the hypodermic cold, the pistol-gray skies and the tap-dancing sleet were obviously a treat, an ursine month of sundaes with a cherry on top.
Natalie Angier/NYTimes/IHT Jan.29.04
and:
Before bonobos can be fully appreciated, however, two human prejudices must be overcome. The first is, fellows, the female bonobo is the dominant sex, though the dominance is so mild and unobnoxious that some researchers view bonobo society as a matter of "co-dominance," or equality between the sexes. Fancy that.
The second hurdle is human squeamishness about what in the 80s were called PDAs, or public displays of affection, in this case very graphic ones. Bonobos lubricate the gears of social harmony with sex, in all possible permutations and combinations: males with females, males with males, females with females, and even infants with adults. The sexual acts include intercourse, genital-to-genital rubbing, oral sex, mutual masturbation and even a practice that people once thought they had a patent on.
Natalie Angier/NYTimes Apr.22.97
reprint Univ. Neb. Lincoln
reprint Univ. Neb. Lincoln
