Fucking for Pleasure in The Animal Kingdom

Humans are only one of over 1,500 animal species that engage in same-sex sexual behavior and love oral sex, masturbating, and cuddling.

Showing affection, genital and anal stimulation, receiving or giving oral sex, interspecies mating, and same-sex sexual interactions are non-reproductive behaviors in the animal kingdom. The fact that animals engage in these behaviors for social interaction, bonding, or as a demonstration of social rank instead of reproduction is only surprising because we are still being fed the message that sex is for reproduction, and the alternative is abstinence.

 Well, as it turns out, not even monkeys are subscribing to that lifestyle. Humans started using phallic-shaped stones to enhance their masturbation technique thousands of years ago. A research paper published in Ethology: International Journal of Behavioural Biology presents findings confirming that the long-tailed macaques in Bali’s Sacred Monkey Forest have joined the fun.

The research team collected video footage from 2016-2019 and analyzed how this monkey population bit and gathered stones. But there are also hundreds of instances when male and female monkeys tap and rub the stones on their genitals in an apparent state of sexual arousal. Camilla Cenni, the paper’s co-author and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Lethbridge in Canada, told VICE World News that while masturbation in primates is not uncommon, the use of tools for this process is rare. “It's hard to give a very solid explanation, but it really seems that they do it because it feels good,” she said. “There is some sort of tactile stimulation from the contact of those stones with their genitals, and it feels good. And there is no reason to stop.”

“Non-reproductive behaviors consist of sexual activities animals participate in that do not lead to the reproduction of the species. Although procreation continues to be the primary explanation for sexual behavior in animals, recent observations on animal behavior have given alternative reasons for the engagement in sexual activities by animals.”

Sexologist Havelock Ellis in his 1927 Studies in the Psychology of Sex, identified bulls, goats, sheep, camels, and elephants as species known to practice autoeroticism, adding some other species:

“I am informed by a gentleman who is a recognized authority on goats that they sometimes take the penis into the mouth and produce actual orgasm, thus practicing auto-fellatio. As regards ferrets ... "if the bitch, when in heat, cannot obtain a dog [i.e., male ferret], she pines and becomes ill. If a smooth pebble is introduced into the hutch, she will masturbate upon it, thus preserving her normal health for one season. But if this artificial substitute is given to her a second season, she will not, as formerly, be content with it.”

Auto-fellatio or oral sex in animals is documented in spiders, walruses, brown bears, stump-tailed macaques, Tibetan macaques, wolves, goats, primates, bats, cape ground squirrels, sheep, and humans. I still remember the mixed emotions that took over me when I saw my beautiful and incredibly flexible friend reach his dick with his mouth a few years ago when I said I didn’t think it was possible. Would I? …if I could. Would you?

In his 1999 book, Biological exuberance, Bruce Bagemihl documents that:

“Autoeroticism also occurs widely among animals, both male and female. A variety of creative techniques are used, including genital stimulation using the hand or front paw (primates, Lions), foot (Vampire Bats, primates), flipper (Walruses), or tail (Savanna Baboons), sometimes accompanied by stimulation of the nipples (Rhesus Macaques, Bonobos); auto-fellating or licking, sucking and/or nuzzling by a male of his penis (Common Chimpanzees, Savanna Bonobos, Vervet Monkeys, Squirrel Monkeys, Thinhorn Sheep, Bharal, Aovdad, Dwarf Cavies); stimulation of the penis by flipping or rubbing it against the belly or in its sheath (White-tailed and Mule Deer, Zebras and Takhi); spontaneous ejaculations (Mountain Sheep, Warthogs, Spotted Hyenas); and stimulation of the genitals using inanimate objects (found in several primates and cetaceans).

Many birds masturbate by mounting and copulating with tufts of grass, leaves, or mounds of earth, and some mammals such as primates and dolphins also rub their genitals against the ground or other surfaces to stimulate themselves.^”

Sometimes things in life can get very complicated, so I hope this serves as a reminder that we humans are just like all the other animals trying to enjoy life, so we’re not merely existing and surviving. I hope you enjoy this list of fun facts I put together for you before you take some ideas from our sibling species.

• Autoeroticism in female mammals and heterosexual and homosexual intercourse (especially in primates) often involves direct or indirect stimulation of the
• The male bottlenose dolphin has been seen wrapping a live, wriggling eel around its penis.
• Among elephants, female same-sex behaviors have been documented only in captivity, where they are known to masturbate one another with their trunks. OUCH!
• Genital rubbing has been observed among male orangutans and several times in a small group of lar gibbons, where two males thrust their genitals together, sometimes resulting in ejaculation in one of the partners. It has been observed among bull manatees in conjunction with "kissing" and is also common among homosexually active mammals.
• A male sea otter was observed holding a female sea otter underwater until she drowned before repeatedly copulating with her carcass. Several months later, the same sea otter was again observed copulating with the carcass of a different female. There are quite a few animal species with reported cases of necrophilia.
• Primates, sheep, goats, and hyenas are the primary animals that practice oral sex.
• Lionesses and monkeys practice group sex. It’s usually for mating but hey, power to them!
• Bonobos, dolphins, fur seals, killer whales, sea otters, hyenas, and cheetahs have sex for pleasure.
• Male and female dolphins masturbate with sand. Males hump the sand while females rub against it.
• A male Asian elephant has a long, hefty penis that can move around with a set of enlarged muscles at its base. That lets him navigate it into a female’s vagina or masturbate by repeatedly striking his erect penis against his belly. Elephants are most interested in beating themselves in the early stages of musth, the season of peak testosterone that leaves them aggressive, dribbling urine, and irresistibly sexy to female elephants. It doesn’t last forever: they lose interest as the musth continues.
• During the breeding season, male and female porcupines rub sticks against their genitals.
• For marine iguanas, masturbation can serve a much more direct reproductive role. All males, large and small, will try their luck at mating. But large males are territorial and ruthless about shoving small males off of females mid-copulation long before they ejaculate. For the small males, masturbation is a strategy: they finish off on the rocks, ejaculate into their cloacal folds, and store the semen, so it’s ready to push inside a female first thing the next time they get a chance to mate. The trick improves their fertilization success by 41% and passes the behavior to the next generation.
• It is common for a female orangutan to initiate sex with a male by masturbating near him. Just try to resist, Mr. Orangutang!
• Spider monkeys use their tail to masturbate.
• Some squirrels masturbate in between matings to clean their dicks and avoid STIs. Clever little animals!

It’s fascinating to see how many animals are also known for taking matters into their own hands. (pun intended)