Parental Behavior in the Great Apes

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Newborn Care
Infant Care
Juvenile Care
Conclusion
References

Introduction

It is difficult to conceptualize and apply the challenges related to maternal competence in great apes, as well as to parenting in primates in general. It is clear that some behaviors must be learned in order to be a capable parent, but the mechanisms of learning are yet unclear. A relatively small number of primate species have been used in many studies on parenting in primates. As a result, the focus of this essay is on the description of parental behavior in primates. Chimpanzee’s child rearing is different from Orangutan’s and Gorilla’s because they represent high maternal competence with sensitive responsiveness and the young ones are less frequently separated from their mothers during newborn, infancy, and juvenile stages.

Newborn Care

During the first thirty days of life, the chimpanzee infant and mother engage in continual ventral stream interaction. Chimpanzee neonates are just as dependent on their mothers for survival as are newborn humans. Mothers provide the majority of physical assistance during this time, but they rarely assist the newborn in sucking (Maestripieri 2018). The duration and frequency of feedings in young chimpanzees are erratic. During the first month, the newborn spends around 20% of his or her time nuzzling, rooting, and nursing. Most of the time, mothers just cradle their newborn babies, giving them the support they need to stay in physical touch. The maternal gaze plays a significant role in primate behavior. On average, chimpanzee mothers glance at their newborn babies for 12 minutes per hour (Bornsten 2019). When analyzing, exploring, playing, and grooming the newborns, half of that time is spent focusing on their faces.

The parenting styles of orangutans, and gorillas, differ from those of chimpanzees. Contrary to chimpanzees, newborn orangutans and gorillas appear to be more responsible. Mother orangutans rest frequently while caring for their young and do not go far from their babies (Fröhlich et al. 2022). Gorilla babies may cling to their mothers for up to three minutes without the mother’s help (Fröhlich et al. 2022). On the infant’s first day of life, maternal assistance may be inadequate, and the placenta may or may not be consumed

Infant Care

Chimpanzees are physically reliant on their mothers’ milk during infancy, which could be divided into two stages: the early stage and the later stage. The early stage is the phase in which there is no impartial movement, and the later stage is the phase in which there is some established movement (Bard et al. 2021). Chimpanzee mothers interact with their young ones in a number of ways throughout the first three months (Bard et al. 2021). Infants are frequently encouraged to practice their talents in this period. Maternal actions like holding newborns’ hands when they stand up enhance their motor development.

Infants are regularly and alternately encouraged by their mothers to support their weight first with their legs and then with their arms. Similarly, encouraging early crawling is achieved, and in the early weeks, mother-infant contact is seldom lost; hence, these stimulating activities are often done on the mother’s body (Bard et al. 2021). Mothers of chimpanzees help and promote their neurodevelopment, both physically and verbally. Chimpanzee mothers watch what their young ones eat and keep them from handling or consuming unpleasant food materials (Bard et al. 2021). Older infants learn termite fishing, tool making, plant scavenging, food processing, and locomotor activities from their mothers.

Infant chimpanzees commonly lose contact with their mothers, whereas orangutan newborns do not. To enable their children to play, chimpanzee mothers may accept being relatively near to other mothers (Fröhlich et al., 4). On the contrary, orangutans have fewer peers accessible to them for socializing from infancy up to age 5 (Fröhlich et al. 2022). Between the ages between 4 and 8 years old, orangutan newborns are weaned (Fröhlich et al. 2022). On the other hand, the motor development of gorilla infants is more advanced than those of chimpanzees. Gorillas start chewing food at two months old, cling to their mothers’ hair by two months, and start reaching for objects at an earlier age (Bornsten 2019). Before the child turns one, mothers spend time grooming the newborn and start to reject efforts at sucking. Infants begin to move independently at 2 years old, although they still have the white tail tuff that serves as a sign of a newborn until the third year (Morrison et al. 2021). As a result, gorilla mothers promote the growth of baby motor abilities in a pattern comparable to chimpanzee mothers.

Juvenile Care

During the juvenile stage, Chimpanzees spend extended periods of time away from their parents, and their coats may undergo color changes. The absence of the white tail tuft marks the end of infancy in chimpanzees (Bard et al. 2021). During middle juvenile age, the focus shifts from their mothers to peers (Bornsten 2019). Reduced maternal obligations for supplying milk are accompanied by an increase in parental responsibilities for fostering child independence. Both orangutans and gorillas wean from maternal obligations during the juvenile phase (Schuppli et al. 2020). Mothers groom their young daughters and sons, although daughters groom family members more frequently than sons.

Conclusion

In conclusion, maternal competence in chimpanzees, demonstrated even in interactions with young apes, represents sensitive responsiveness in which the mother interacts in contingent behavior and promotes the growth of newborn and infant capabilities. Rather than receiving skilled mother care, direct exposure to caring for a younger person appears to be the most important early experience for chimpanzees. In several primate species, maternal competence is not innate. In contrast to chimpanzees, orangutan and gorilla newborns are less frequently separated from their mothers and have highly developed motor skills.

References

Bard, Kim A., Keller, Heidi, Ross M. Kirsty, Hewlett, Barry, Butler. Lauren, Boysen. Sarah T., and Matsuzawa, Tetsuro 2021 Joint Attention in Human and Chimpanzee Infants in Varied Socio‐Ecological Contexts. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 86(4):1-228.

Berlin, Erin, Thurber, Mary I, and Lamberski, Nadine 2019 Review of Veterinary Intervention in Reproduction of Captive Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) from 1996 to 2016. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 50(3): 539-546.

Bornsten, Marc H 2019 Handbook of Parenting. In Parenting in Nonhuman Primates, edited by Bard, Kim A. 3rd ed, pp. 78-122. Routledge, London.

Fröhlich, Marlen, van Schaik, Carel P., van Noordwijk, Maria A., and Knief, Ulrich 2022 Individual Variation and Plasticity in the Infant-Directed Communication of Orang-utan Mothers. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 289(1975): 1-10.

Maestripieri, Dario. 2018 Maternal Influences on Primate Social Development. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 72(8): 1–12.

Morrison, Robin E, Eckardt, Winnie., Colchero, Fernando., Vecellio, Veronica, and Stoinski, Tara S 2021 Social Groups Buffer Maternal Loss in Mountain Gorillas. Elife 10(1):1-22.

Schuppli, Caroline, Van Noordwijk, Maria, Atmoko, Suci U., and Van Schaik, Carel 2020 Early Sociability Fosters Later Exploratory Tendency in Wild Immature Orangutans. Science Advances 6(2): 1-7.

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