Gay animals out of the closet?

From male killer whales that ride the dorsal fin of another male to female bonobos that rub their genitals together, the animal kingdom tolerates all kinds of lifestyles.

A first-ever museum display, "Against Nature?," which opened last month at the University of Oslo's Natural History Museum in Norway, presents 51 species of animals exhibiting homosexuality.

"Homosexuality has been observed in more than 1,500 species, and the phenomenon has been well described for 500 of them," said Petter Bockman, project coordinator of the exhibition.

The idea, however, is rarely discussed in the scientific community and is often dismissed as unnatural because it doesn't appear to benefit the larger cause of species continuation.

However, species continuation may not always be the ultimate goal, as many animals, including humans, engage in sexual activities more than is necessary for reproduction.

Ethiopian lions poisoned to save money

Rare Abyssinian lion cubs are being poisoned at a zoo because staff cannot afford to keep them, a wildlife official said Wednesday.

The dead cubs are sold to taxidermists for $170 each to be stuffed and sold as decorations, said Muhedin Abdulaziz, the administrator at the old imperial Lion Zoo in the capital, Addis Ababa.

"These animals are the pride of our country. We need to do something about this. But our only alternative right now is to send them to the taxidermist," Abdulaziz said.

Chimps prefer the older woman

Chimpanzee males prefer to have sex with older females, according to US researchers, showing one of the biggest behavioural differences between humans and our closest biological relatives.

Male chimps will chase down and fight over the oldest females.

Meanwhile, the youngest female chimps are forced to beg for masculine attention, say anthropologist Assistant Professor Martin Muller and colleagues at Boston University.