The death of a blind goose -- Thomas from Waikanae in New Zealand -- has left everyone in awe after the Wellington Bird Rehabilitation Trust announced the news on Facebook. The post had also shed light on Thomas' love journey with bisexual and polyamorous partners Henry and Henrietta.
The WBRT mentioned how Thomas fascinated birdwatchers with his devotion to a male black swan named Henry and their relationship which went on to become a love triangle after the latter fell in love with another female swan named Henrietta.
Thomas had separated himself from other geese long back, after falling in love with Henry and spent their 18 happy gay years together. But life came crashing down when the young female swan named Henrietta came in between the couple's love life. However, that didn't end his love for Henry as he stayed back and helped the pair raise their 68 cygnets over the years.
The interesting love triangle came to an end when Henry died in 2009 and Henrietta migrated with another swan leaving Thomas all alone. Thomas' life went on to become more of a mess when he tried to father his own babies, which was gradually stolen by another goose named George.
The old goose spent his last days in Wellington Bird Rehabilitation Trust after he was taken over by the sanctuary when he became blind in 2013.
Last week, the trust announced his death in a Facebook post expressing a few words of condolence.
"We have loved having Thomas as a part of the WBRT family and have treated him with extra special love and care," said the trust who have been taking care of over 400 birds a year.
"Thank you, Thomas, for proving that there is life even after sight. You were a true inspiration for the work we do and the things we are able to achieve for the animals in our care."
As we have seen in Thomas' case, the homosexual goose spent almost his entire life with his gay partner Henry. This proves the fact that homosexuality is quite evident in the animal kingdom.
Bruce Bagemihl had argued about homosexuality in animals in his book Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity stating various evidence about it being a natural phenomenon in the animal kingdom. In the book,
"Male gorillas court and couple with each other, grizzly bear families have two mothers, male swans form pair-bonds with one another and female long-eared hedgehogs have oral sex," wrote Bagehmil explaining about the characteristics of homosexuality in animals. He also stated that homosexual behaviour has been documented in over 450 species of animals.
"Homosexuality is far from being 'unnatural' in the statistical sense. It occurs in all higher species, even when members of the opposite sex are present and presumably available for mating," wrote Judd Marmor, another author in his 1980 book Homosexual Behaviour: A Modern Reappraisal.
