Public Octopus Orgy Cancelled Due to Cannibalism Risk

Is there anything cuter than animal couples being cuddly together? For example, over the Valentine’s Day weekend the Houston Zoo posted 18 photos on Facebook of animals being cute together – pairs of elephants, otters, butterflies, lemurs, turtles, birds, all kinds of things.

Awww.

You’ll notice there’s no octopuses in that collection, however, because their mating habits can be a bit, um, brutal.

The Seattle Aquarium recently had to cancel a planned event where people could watch two octopuses mating, because they were worried the male might eat the female:

Each Valentine’s Day the Aquarium invites people to watch the sea creatures mate, but this year the chance to watch some 8-armed nooky has been called off.

Aquarium staff say they’re afraid that their male octopus – a 70-pound cephalopod named Kong – is too big for the females who are 30 to 40 pounds, and he may eat them.

So much for romance!

Instead, Kong was released back to the Puget Sound, where he can hook up with whatever lady octopus he chooses – but apparently octopuses mate only once at the end of their lives, so he’s probably going to die soon after.

And you thought your dating habits were a nightmare.