A heterogenit is an antiquated term for a person who engages in sex acts with animals. A heterogenit may be of any gender or sexuality, although some people consider a sexual interest in animals to be a sexuality all its own.
Hungarian journalist Karl Maria Kertbeny coined the term in the late 1860s. It has fallen out of popular usage today.
A heterogenit is sometimes called a bestialitist or an animalist.
Some heterogenits engage in erotic sex acts with animals that do not involve penetration, while others have penetrative sex with animals. Both behaviors make people heterogenits. They also typically have a preference for sexual activity with specific species of animal or animals that look a certain way. Simply fantasizing about sexual activities with animals, as up to 30% of the population is thought to do, does not make someone a heterogenit.
It’s thought that heterogenits may be born with a sexual interest in animals. Many act on their urges early, at or around the age of puberty with the most common onset of sexual activities with animals being between the ages of 9 and 11.
Kertbeny theorized that heterogenits have a lower sex drive than heterosexuals. However, there is little scientific evidence to support this. It’s also worth noting that some people who have sex with animals can also be considered heterosexual as they desire humans of the opposite sex.
