This Valentine's weekend some American zoos are offering an adults-only opportunity to discover animals' amorous antics, and perhaps pick up a few tips.
This Valentine's weekend some American zoos are offering an adults-only opportunity to discover animals' amorous antics, and perhaps pick up a few tips.
For 75 dollars per person, including champagne and brunch, a Philadelphia Zoo is providing a three-hour romantic tour, dubbed "Lovin' on the Wild Side."
Sadly -- although the tour is for over 21's only -- it is not guaranteed that every visitor will get lucky.
"We don't guarantee that the animals will have intimate moments when we see them," the zoo's Laura Warner cautioned.
But with a bit of luck, Warner said, guests might see an array of unusual overtures.
Tortoises, Warner explained, "like to nibble their toes to get to know each other."
"Bats, since they sleep upside down, there are other things they do upside down," she added. "The giraffes like to rub each other's neck."
But the most unusual -- and brutal -- mating rite may come in the spiders' enclosure.
"After their intimate moment, the female often bites off the male's head," she said.
But for lessons in attentiveness and trust visitors need look no further than the rhinoceros hornbill.
According to Dean Noble, director of marketing at Santa Barbara Zoo in California -- which is also offering tours -- this black-bodied bird is the master of post-coitus care.
"The male of the species seals the female in a hollow tree with mud and then feeds her through the hole and removes the excrement until the chicks are ready to fly," he said.
美國一些動物園將在本周末情人節期間推出一項僅限成年人參加的「觀光「活動，遊客將有幸看到動物們表達愛情的舉動，或許還能從中學到一些經驗。
費城動物園推出了三小時的浪漫之旅，號稱「狂野之愛」，票價為每人75美元，其中包括香檳酒和一份早午餐。
遺憾的是，儘管該活動僅限21歲以上的成年人參加，但不能確保每位遊客都能一飽眼福。
費城動物園的蘿拉•華納提醒說：「我們不能保證遊客在參觀時動物一定會有親密的舉動。」
但所幸遊客們能看到很多不同尋常的「愛情表白」。
華納解釋說，例如烏龜「喜歡通過咬腳趾來認識對方。」
她說：「蝙蝠在睡覺時一般倒掛著身體，所以它們在做其它事情時也採取同樣的姿勢。而長頸鹿則喜歡相互摩擦頸部來表達愛意。」
而最不同尋常和殘忍的交配當屬蜘蛛。
她說：「在交配後，雌蜘蛛通常會咬掉雄蜘蛛的頭。」
如果遊客們想學習情侶間應如何善待和信任對方，千萬別錯過馬來犀鳥。
據同樣將推出該活動的加州聖巴巴拉動物園的營銷總監迪安•諾布爾介紹，這種黑色的鳥在交配後十分懂得照顧對方。
他說：「雄鳥會將雌鳥安置在一個樹洞裡，洞口封上泥巴，只留一個小孔供餵食使用，並幫它清除糞便，直到幼雛會飛為止。」
（實習生許雅寧 英語點津姍姍編輯）