In the spirit of the day, check out this article about mating at the National Zoo, here in DC (and a literal stone's throw from my apartment window).

Among the information featured:
when two females cheetahs are housed together, one or both females will shut down their ovulation, which makes it impossible to breed them until they are again separated.

Shanthi, the baby Asian elephant (who's now almost as big as her mom), was the result of artificial insemination. I remember visiting the Zoo shortly after Shanthi was born, and seeing video footage of her birth. Wow! Kablooey! That's a big package to drop!

The male Panamanian golden frog (pictured), which is extinct in the wild, will attach itself to the female for up to 120 days to make sure he's the one to fertilize her. Talk about clingy!

Also, you may be interested to know that some lowland gorillas will mate face-to-face, as the Wildlife Conservation Society reported this week, and was subsequently promoted by National Geographic.

Labels: dc, evolution