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Why are seals having sex with penguins?
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ON a remote island in the Indian Ocean, researchers have spotted fur seals sexually harassing and coercing king penguins, Daily Mail reported yesterday.
On at least four occasions, the large mammals have been recorded forcing the birds to the ground and attempting to mate with them, the report said.
After three of the incidents, the seals let the penguins go - but following one attack, the seal killed the penguin and ate it, according to the report.
Although the behaviour has been spotted once before, in 2006, this recent spate suggests the acts are becoming more widespread, the report said.
"Honestly I did not expect that follow up sightings of a similar nature to that 2006 one would ever be made again, and certainly not on multiple occasions," Nico de Bruyn, of the Mammal Research Institute at the University of Pretoria, South Africa told the BBC.
Each of the four recorded sexual incidents showed the seal chasing, capturing and mounting the penguins, according to the report.
They then attempted to copulate for between two-and-a-half minutes and six minutes at a time, before they are seen resting and trying again. The average copulation time was five minutes, the report said.
The seals were all male, but the gender of the penguins isn’t known, according to the report.
Experts suggest it may have become a learned behaviour, because the incidents have occurred with different fur seals. And the incidents may continue - but the reasons why the seals have started to exhibit this behaviour are not known, the report said.
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