Animal Rape: A Look into Non-Consensual Sexual Behavior in the Animal Kingdom

[stickythighs]

I remember reading somewhere that animals do rape each other sometimes.

One of my friends told me that she didn't think animals could rape each other. She said, "Animals don't have the notions of consent that humans do."

Do animals rape each other?

 

[Monique]

Unwanted sexual harrassment, why wouldn't that happen? An unusal case: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7379554.stm

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

One of my friends told me that she didn't think animals could rape each other. She said, "Animals don't have the notions of consent that humans do."

Sexual selection and gender roles vary from species to species. In some species the male is the primary selector of mate and in others it is the female. In some it is a two way street. With most species there are at least some occurances of females being chosen whether they like it or not and in some species that is the common way of things. You can certainly call it rape but it does not have the same significance for the animal that it does for a human.

 

[mgb_phys]

Dolphins are quite famous for this, teenage dolphins seek out non-reproductive females and have sex for fun. They even organise gangs where a pack will split a female off from the group to allow them to have sex.

It's generally regarded as rape because they pick females that aren't 'in heat'.