IN Toronto magazine

SOUND OFF:

The Toronto Zoo's controversial matchmaking plans

The Toronto Zoo caused an international flap after announcing its plans to separate a pair of “gay” male African penguins, Pedro and Buddy, in order to mate them with two female penguins — who have been studiously ignored. Should the boys be left alone? Three penguin pundits wade in.

“If it does not pose an imminent threat to the species, separating Buddy and Pedro seems unnecessary and premature. The two penguins have developed a close bond with each other. To my knowledge, African penguins tend to choose one mate for the majority of their lives. Breaking them apart could be devastating. I understand the zoo’s position. They want to help the species survive. However, there are other male penguins at the Toronto Zoo to breed. I’m not convinced Buddy and Pedro need to be separated in order to keep the species alive. It is more of an animal rights issue than anything else.”

AMELIA R, CREATOR OF A CHANGE.ORG PETITION ON THE ISSUE


“Separating Buddy and Pedro is about ensuring the species survives in North America. In 1910, there were 1.2 million African penguins. In 2010, the number was 60,000. Gay is a human-based thing, not animal-based. Penguins are social animals; Buddy and Pedro are socially bonded. We haven’t seen any [attempted] reproductive activity so far. But I can understand people’s negative reactions. Penguins have been so anthropomorphized through movies like Happy Feet and Madagascar. People have transferred that to what we’re doing — as if we’re doing something against human rights. There’s no comparison whatsoever. We’re very conscious of the birds and what their needs are.”

TOM MASON, TORONTO ZOO CURATOR OF BIRDS AND INVERTEBRATES

 

“There are now five zoos around the world that have cashed in on the gay penguin craze. It seems to be a marketing strategy to get people back into the zoo. There are all sorts of cautionary tales to be learned from watching the public’s reaction as we defend gay penguins. One part is the anthropomorphic projection onto the silent who can’t speak, which is convenient to project onto Buddy and Pedro, who can’t speak for themselves and who might tell us a different tale. The Christian right, too, has equally anthropomorphized poor gay penguins by calling for the banning of And Tango Makes Three, a children’s book on the true story of two male penguins raising an egg together. It’s an inescapable political issue.”

JOHN GREYSON, FILMMAKER, CREATOR OF PENGUIN-THEMED INSTALLATION ROY AND SILO’S BIG GAY DIVORCE