Some might say that after Donald Trump’s inauguration, world events became so bizarre in 2017 that our covfefe of the year’s offbeat yarns would pale in comparison. Not so. From the US president inspiring people to use toilets in India to snakes on trains in Indonesia and outrageous aircrew rage, there’s something to shock everyone. Many of the stories went viral, such as inter-species sexual activity in Japan and animal-to-human disease transmission. No, those last two are not related. Here we go ...
Female monkeys are having sexual interactions with deer in Japan and scientists are intrigued
After spending a few months observing macaque monkeys living in a Japanese forest, a group of scientists found a pattern of behaviour they described as both “unusual” and “intriguing”.
Adolescent female macaques climbed on top of a sika deer and crouched. Then, they moved their pelvises as if thrusting or grinding. They squeaked sexual sounds. They also bit, sniffed and pulled on the deer’s antlers. The deer, meanwhile, stood nonchalantly and continued foraging for food. When the deer walked away, the female monkeys “often displayed sexually motivated tantrums which consist of crouching on the ground, body spasms and screaming, while gazing at the deer,” the scientists wrote in a peer-reviewed study in the Archives of Sexual Behaviour.