Image from NPR article.

Trigger Warning: This post discusses in part non-human sexual assault and possible implications for humans.

Apparently female Japanese macaques are having “sexual interactions” with sika deer. Check out the NPR article. It’s not only a fascinating account of interspecies interaction, it makes some of the weird stuff we humans do look rather normal. 😄 It also fits neatly into my theory that we can’t point to any one behavior and say, “This sets humans apart from all other animals. Only humans do it.” (Yes, I drove my Psychology 101 prof nuts on this topic, challenging every example she tried. 😁)

Some parts of the article could also be read as showing non-humans sexually assaulting others. Some macaques certainly have a poor understanding of consent! I knew dolphins sometimes gang-rape, but I didn’t know any other examples. It’s important to note that in the macaques’ case the females are the aggressors. This further demolishes the belief that only males commit sexual assault. We can also take a lesson from the macaques’ motivation: sexual frustration. Perhaps teaching potential and/or convicted aggressors other ways of dealing with frustration would be an effective approach.