Acquaintances just thought the chemistry between them was wrong, but they were truly surprised to discover that they were a same-sex couple. The address of the couple in question is the Seoul Grand Park’s South American hall, where animals of the Amazon jungles reside. And the two sloths, whose bickering and refusal to mate frustrated their keepers since their “marriage” a year ago, were finally unmasked as two males.

The two moved in together in November last year. One sloth born in 1992 that was thought to be female at the time came to the park in 1995, and zookeepers welcomed a partner for the animal in 2000. There was the age difference -- eight years -- but since sloths’ average life span is over 20 years, everyone expected the couple to have a fine life together with a couple of baby sloths somewhere down the road. But it was not to be. Instead of endearments, the new husband was subjected to rather un-ladylike abuse at the slow-moving hands of the other, from scratching and biting to blocking access to food.

Just an ordinary marriage then. But even so, keepers commissioned DNA tests from the research center at the zoo in September. They had to, since sloths’ genitals do not protrude from the body, so it is impossible to distinguish the genders with the naked eye. It took a two-month analysis to establish that both were male. The zoo is determined to make things right for the two and is now working on bringing in a pair of females. Luckily perhaps, waiting is the animals’ forte.

(englishnews@chosun.com )