Zoophilia from the Greek Ζωο (zôon, “animal”
and φιλία (philia,
“friendship” or “love”, also known as
zoosexuality, is a paraphilia, defined as an affinity or sexual
attraction by a human to a (non-human) animal. Such individuals are
called zoophiles. A separate term, bestiality, which is more common
in mainstream usage and frequently but incorrectly so seen as a
synonym, refers to human/animal sexual activity. To avoid confusion
about the meaning of zoophilia which may refer to the
affinity/attraction, paraphilia, or sexual activity this article
uses zoophilia for the former, and bestiality or zoosexual activity
for the sexual act. The two terms are independent: not all sexual
acts with animals are performed by zoophiles; and not all zoophiles
perform sexual acts with animals.
