Animal Instincts : Santa Ana Zoo’s ‘Sex Tour’ Offers Patrons Insight Into Some Wild Things

Birds do it, bees do it, even wildebeests and zebus do it. And during the “Valentine’s Day Sex Tour” at Santa Ana Zoo today, visitors will learn exactly how animals court and mate in a captive setting.

Wild stuff?

Well, the event is for adults only, but zoo curator Connie Sweet said she wouldn’t go so far as to slap an R-rating on the tour. Call it PG-13.

Inspired by a similar event at the San Francisco Zoo, the tour is designed to entertain visitors while giving them scientific insights into the ways animals choose their mates and raise their young.

“It’s going to be fun, tongue-in-cheek stuff,” said Sweet, who will lead the tour with zoo veterinarian Lorrie Boldrick. If the event goes well, it might become a Valentine’s tradition.

The Santa Ana Zoo, located in Prentice Park, has about 200 animals in its collection, including endangered species such as the bald eagle, the black and white ruffed lemur, and the golden lion tamarin monkey. Many of the animals are native to Central and South America.

Among the animals that will be discussed is the South American rhea, a large, flightless bird that resembles a small ostrich. Rheas seem to be into role reversals.

“The male is the one that digs out the nest pit,” Sweet said, “and he entices the females to lay eggs in his nest. Then the male bird incubates the nest.” And when the eggs hatch, the male takes care of the young.

“The females do lay quite a few eggs,” Sweet added, “so it’s a pretty big job for the male. It’s like a ‘Mr. Mom’ kind of thing.”

Then there’s the female Patagonian cavy, a rough-haired rodent that tends to be in the mood for love soon after giving birth. A male cavy, not surprisingly, waits with anticipation outside the burrow.

“He guards the den entrance and guards her, so he is the male who can breed her again,” Sweet explained. “It gives her extra protection and it helps assure that his genetic materials continue to get passed on.”

Zoo visitors also will learn about the breeding habits of South American camels, courtship behaviors of snakes and the rowdy mating habits of ocelots. “Cats can be pretty vicious sometimes,” Sweet pointed out.

There will also be information about birth control behind bars.

“What we’re going to talk about is not just unusual breeding or mating behaviors,” Sweet said. “It’s also going to include some of the reasoning . . . why we don’t reproduce everything in the collection.”

Breeding can be controlled by performing castrations or vasectomies on the males, she said, or by simply keeping them away from members of the opposite sex. Sometimes females are given hormone implants, similar to Norplant for humans, that block ovulation. This is the method used with spot-nosed guenon African monkeys at the zoo.

Breeding practices are based on the Species Survival Plan developed by the American Zoo and Aquarium Assn. The plan is designed to manage animal populations and gene pools in captivity, while helping conserve species in the wild.

“Just because an animal is endangered in the wild, doesn’t mean we need to breed as many as we can in captivity,” Sweet said. “There is only so much space in captivity to hold so many animals. If we go beyond our space capacities, then we end up with animals being held in less than ideal situations,” she said.

“It will be fun,” Sweet added. “We’ll give an insiders’ look at how we manage the population.”