They’re “holding hands” and er, swapping trunks in one another’s mouths.
Greg OwenAugust 21, 2025 (lgbtqnation.com)
Two male elephants affectionately embracing in a Sri Lanka national park. | Video screenshot
No, you’re not hallucinating. There really are gay elephants.
While they may not be pink, they are engaging in homosexual behavior, according to park rangers in Sri Lanka, who say they frequently observe wild male elephants mounting and bonding with one another.
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The elephant experts say fraternal interactions are a natural part of elephant social behavior, and are most easily seen during the dry season when herds gather en masse around water sources, The Daily Mirror reports.
In Sri Lanka, the small South Asian island nation at the southern tip of India, those destinations include large reservoirs in two national parks, Minneriya and Kaudull, well-known for their large elephant populations.
Male elephants can be seen ‘holding hands’ by intertwining their trunks, and grooming each other to show affection. They even put their trunks in one another’s mouths. Relationships between elephants of both sexes often last a lifetime.
Across the Palk Strait in the Indian state of Tamil, two male elephants recently displayed these behaviors near the city of Gudalur.
Observers witness this behavior less often in the rainy season, when elephant populations disperse into the surrounding forests. That migration often coincides with mating season, when male elephants engage in intense fights to attract females, demonstrating physical strength and social dominance — the losing bulls will often console themselves with one another.
Similar same-sex interactions are seen across the animal kingdom, but for elephants, one of the most emotionally evolved species on the planet, the behaviors are a reflection of the animals’ terrifically complex social structures.
Same-sex behaviors in animals of all kinds have been documented for millennia
Aristotle (384–322 BC) observed it in pigeons and quail; the Egyptian writer Horapollo (circa 4 AD) found it in partridges.
Same-sex behaviors have been observed in over 1,500 species — in every major animal group, and in every region of the planet — including birds, insects, primates, reptiles, fish, invertebrates, and ocean mammals, according to a 2009 University of California study. Those behaviors can include sexual contact, courtship, affection, pair-bonding behaviors (like hugging, nuzzling, licking, and grooming), and even joining forces to raise offspring — their own or another parent’s.
However, scientists don’t call animals “gay,” “lesbian,” “bisexual,” or “queer” because the word connotes a human sexual orientation with strong cultural and political implications that are irrelevant to non-human species. Instead, most scientists will say that animals exhibit “same-sex behaviors” or “homosexual behaviors.” Scientists use these phrases to avoid “anthropomorphizing” animals and seeing them as “imperfect copies of humans,” biologist Marlene Zuk explained.
Nevertheless, one Daily Mirror reader summed up reaction to the same-sex behavior, calling it a “favourite Lanka pastime and activity. Even the animals living in our paradise engage in it.”
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Greg Owen writes about politics and culture for LGBTQ Nation. An award-winning writer, producer and journalist, he was recently recognized for Excellence in Online Journalism by NLGJA: the Association of LGBTQ Journalists for his coverage of the 2024 election. He’s written for Q Digital since 2015 and for LGBTQ Nation since 2022.