Not all zoophiles necessarily engage in acts of bestiality, but the vast majority do, hence the two terms often being used interchangeably. Zoophilia refers more to the bigger picture of people who have a desire to form sexual relationships with animals. Bestiality refers to the actual act of engaging in sexual intercourse with an animal, regardless of the motivation and circumstances. You might also have heard the term zoophilia, and how does this differ from bestiality? In practice, the concepts are very close together but still different in one crucial aspect. The study, which took place in Brazil and was published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, found a 34% prevalence of bestiality amongst men, most of whom were from rural backgrounds, as well as determining that it was a risk factor for penile cancer. One recent paper which sought to find a link between sex with animals and penile cancer has offered a little insight, however. When researching the topic, one isn't surprised to find that few academic institutions have conducted serious studies on the matter, making it difficult to find strong estimates for the prevalence today.
![animal s ex animal s ex](https://assets-natgeotv.fnghub.com/Shows/77408.jpg)
Also, a later study in 1974 by Morton M Hunt put the prevalence of men and women having intimate relations with animals at 4.9% and 1.9% respectively. However, these figures were disputed in academia due to the fact that an unreasonably high proportion of the subjects in Kinsey's widely-cited study were prisoners. Writing in the 1940’s, famed sexual researcher Alfred Kinsey estimated that 8% of men and 3.6% of women had engaged in some sort of sexual act with an animal.
![animal s ex animal s ex](https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/33E47DBB-8BC2-4379-A324E34966D40B32_source.jpg)
Estimates of prevalence vary, but by any estimation the numbers are still substantial. Humans having sex with animals is called bestiality, and it isn't nearly as rare as you might think. One point of (slight) comfort before we continue, it is totally illegal in South Africa, and has been for centuries. These facts will probably make you feel surprised, and quite possibly angry or sick as well, but they're true.