Valentine's Day Among the Creatures

You see the pictures of swans intertwined on greeting cards for a day like today - but is that the reality in the animal kingdom? Not really.

According to a number of studies, nine of out ten mammals that mate for life are unfaithful. You could call it the urge of biology. Females want options to gather the best genes for their offspring, while males are driven to father with as many mates and as often as possible.

Genetic testing techniques show that even the most devoted of species often go out in search of a new partner. (Even swans). More than 50% end up with a different partner. Tell that to your spouse and see where it ends...

But since this is Valentine's Day. and in the name of love you ask "which animals are the closest to settling down with that special furry partner long-term?" Wolves; Mexican, maned and grey wolves stay together for an extended period. The El Paso Zoo has three Mexican wolves - but no love opportunities there - they are all female. Only two monkeys, the marmoset and the tamarin, are truly monogamous, according to a Cornell University study. All other primates, includes humans, often mate outside their partnerships. Stanford University found similar results. Out of 4,000 mammal species, no more than a few dozen form reliable pairings. They found monogamous mammals are most likely to be a few species of bats, certain canids (especially foxes), and a few primates, notably those tiny New World monkeys known as marmosets and tamarins*, a handful of mice and rats, several odd-sounding South American rodents (agoutis, pacas, acouchis*, maras), the giant otter of South America, the northern beaver, a handful of species of seals, and a couple of small African antelopes.

So when you take a stroll through the El Paso Zoo with your sweetheart, wondering which animals are paired for life - look to a small rodent, a bat and wolves for your romantic inspiration. Then casually mention that they all really only have a 50/50 chance of staying together, forever.

On second thought, you're better off buying flowers, a nice dinner and that technically inaccurate - but effective Hallmark swan card.

Even monkeys can't do that.


*You can see tamarins, acouchis, wolves & bats among the 240 species at the El Paso Zoo: 4001 E.Paisano. We're open daily 9:30 - 4:00. www.elpasozoo.org El Paso Zoo memberships make the perfect Valentine's Day gift- 532-8156.