The 40-year-old chimpanzee Jutta, the mother of young Mu (2 years old), was serious problem with teeth - two incisors were broken. Primates live at Aalborger Zoo, Copenhagen. The tooth stubs were so short that veterinarian Trin Hammer Jensen decided

40-year-old chimpanzee Jutta, the mother of young Mu (2 years old), had a serious problem with her teeth - two incisors were broken. Primates live at Aalborger Zoo, Copenhagen.

The stumps of teeth were so short that veterinarian Trin Hammer Jensen decided to have them removed.

“As soon as we started giving Jutta anesthesia, Mu became so nervous that we decided to leave her next to her mother.”

For the doctors performing the operation, the agitated baby chimpanzee meant additional stress. Mu was fidgeting a lot and didn’t want to sit still. In addition, she almost bit through the wires with which we regulated Jutta’s heart rate. However, everything went according to plan and the operation was successful.

The chimpanzee has two fewer teeth. Now Jutta and Mu are doing well, they have been returned to the rest of the primates.

It is not for nothing that monkeys are considered relatives of humans. In particular, chimpanzees demonstrate unprecedented achievements in the animal world, demonstrating their high intellectual abilities. Many studies show that these primates have self-awareness and self-identity, so it is not surprising that family ties are so important to them.

Man is far from the only creature capable of experiencing tender parental feelings. IN new section“Our foster brothers,” which we open in this issue of the magazine, will be about representatives of the class of living beings to which you and I belong. The class of mammals unites the most diverse animals in size and appearance - from the tiny dwarf shrew the size of a newborn’s fist and weighing a little more than a gram to African elephant 4.5 m high and weighing 7.5 tons and a blue whale, whose length reaches 33 m and weighs 150 tons. What unites them all? Every schoolchild knows the answer to this question: like humans, they all have mammary glands and feed their young with milk.

Varvara Meshik
Head of the Department of Primates of the Moscow Zoo, Ph.D.

It’s logical to start getting acquainted with the world of mammals with our closest relatives – great apes. This is a suborder of the order of primates, which includes two families - small apes, or gibbons, and large apes, or pongids (they are divided into three genera: orangutans, chimpanzees and gorillas). Apes live in tropical forests and the plains of Africa (chimpanzees and gorillas), South-East Asia, including Malacca and Sumatra (gibbons), on the islands of Kalimantan and Sumatra (orangutans). They live in small herds or family groups. Large apes build nests for themselves at night, while gibbons sleep in the dense foliage in the middle part of the trees. They usually move through trees using only their hands. They feed on plant foods, sometimes eating bird eggs and chicks, as well as ants and termites (chimpanzees). Chimpanzees and gorillas are considered to be closest to humans. Sometimes bonobos, close relatives of chimpanzees, which nevertheless have a number of significant differences, are identified as a separate genus of apes. It is bonobos that are more reminiscent of humans in terms of metabolic characteristics than other monkeys. social organization and behavior. Chimpanzees are more “advanced” in instrumental behavior, gorillas are known for their abilities in sign communication.

Most mammals, and higher primates are no exception, are distinguished by a gentle and attentive attitude towards their offspring. The more highly organized animals are, the more helpless their young are born, the longer their childhood period lasts, the more they have to learn.

The duration of pregnancy in apes approaches that of humans: 210 - 235 days in gibbons, 225 days in chimpanzees, 275 days in orangutans, 250 - 290 days in gorillas. Great apes breed all year round, females, like women, have menstrual cycles(lasting 30 - 40 days), the period of puberty begins at 7 - 10 years. Life expectancy ranges from 30 to 60 years.

Due to the fact that the Moscow Zoo specializes in breeding orangutans, we will tell you more about them.

Orangutans - These are large monkeys. The height of adult animals reaches 130 - 150 cm with an average body weight of 100 - 150 kg (especially large males in captivity can weigh up to 300 kg). Female orangutans are significantly smaller than males. At 10-12 years old, orangutans start a family, and they choose their life partner quite carefully. IN natural conditions the male occupies a huge territory, within which there are territories of several females (with cubs). He visits them one by one, sometimes they all get together. A pregnant female orangutan has a special social status(for example, in captivity, she is the first to be allowed to the feeder; she is especially popular as a grooming partner 1). Childbirth occurs very quickly, the mother immediately takes the baby (a newborn orangutan weighs about one and a half kilograms) in her arms, licks it, eats the membranes and afterbirth, bites the umbilical cord and puts it to the breast. From this moment on, for two to three weeks, the mother will literally carry the newborn baby in her arms all the time, until he himself learns to hold her fur tightly with his fingers. For another 3 - 4 years he will have to feed on his mother's milk, and for the first two years he is practically inseparable from his mother. By six months the baby begins to walk. A one-year-old orangutan already has all its milk teeth, which are replaced by permanent teeth by the age of seven. Orangutans are very clean; the mother carefully monitors hygiene: she licks the baby’s face and genitals. The father does not take part in the birth and is generally somewhat wary of both the very process of the birth of an heir and subsequent communication with him. This is also facilitated by the behavior of the mother, who treats the baby very tenderly and reverently and is ready to protect him from any dangers. Subsequently, when the baby grows up, communication and games with dad occur on the initiative of the cub. In general, a calm, friendly atmosphere reigns in the orangutan family, the baby is never punished, and the attitude towards him varies from rudely good-natured to outbursts of the most tender love.

1 Grooming is a comfortable behavior in mammals, expressed in the care of fur and addressed to another individual. In primates, it serves as a mechanism for maintaining hierarchy (low-ranking individuals clean high-ranking individuals), as well as an element of sexual behavior.

Monkeys: Model Mothers

We are all familiar with the expression that reflects the social nature of man: “No man is an island” - literally meaning “Man is not an island”; a person cannot live alone. Most primates - including monkeys and monkeys - are social animals that spend their entire lives in groups. And the closest bond in the group is the bond between a mother and her baby. Baby monkeys seek contact with their mother as soon as they are born - they cling to their mother’s belly, warm and soft, where they find nutrition and protection; and having matured a little, the monkeys move onto their mother’s back, thus occupying an excellent position for a safe view of the world around them. Monkey mothers do not leave their babies alone - on the contrary, they carry them with them everywhere and everywhere, thereby further strengthening the bond between mother and child.
Mother and baby - the strongest bond

Newborn babies are a source of joyful excitement in a group of primates. However, mother monkeys are extremely jealous of protecting their young from the enthusiastic hands of the rest of their relatives. Only over time does the mother monkey allow others to hold her baby, and they pet, groom and play with it. The primate community plays an active role in raising children. Thus, macaques and most baboons live in communities with very close female bonds, and those who become mothers for the first time are treated with great care, fed and trained. Female vervet monkeys even help each other care for their young.

Yet the closest bond in primate groups is between mother and baby. Even adult male chimpanzees, after a quarrel with others, go to their aged mothers so that they can calm and care for them. Females of most primate species remain with their mothers throughout their lives, and as the mothers age, their daughters care for them. Primatologist Jessica talks about a very old rhesus macaque who lived on an island off the coast of Costa Rica: “She was 31 years old - very old for a macaque. She was so weak that she could barely keep up with the group of her relatives moving around the island. But she was always next to her youngest daughter, already a mother herself. She spent time next to her mother, once the alpha female, and now located only at the foot of social hierarchy, a lot of time. She was often seen next to her old mother when she was sleeping - her daughter combed her. If necessary, the daughter was the first to rush to her mother’s defense.”

Human exploitation of the mother-infant bond

IN wildlife hunters hired by experimental scientists to capture monkeys use the mother-child bond to their advantage. Primate mothers are killed right in the trees, and then baby monkeys are taken away, who in panic cling to the body of the dead mother. If other monkeys approach the body of a killed monkey, they are also caught. Many weaned babies soon fall ill and die from insufficient and unsuitable food, confined in cramped baskets while being transported away from their home and family.

Trauma of loss

For baby primates who are born right in the laboratory, life is just as tragic. Here, the cubs are taken from their mother just three days after birth. Children experience severe stress and are often unable to develop normal social relationships later in life. Monkeys are usually kept in cramped, single cages, which adds to the stress.

Primate mothers naturally scream and struggle when their babies clinging to their bellies are taken away from them. For them, the trauma of losing a baby is also very deep.

"Newborn monkeys that are blind or have disabilities musculoskeletal system, receive all the necessary care from the mother. The main thing is that the baby is able to cling to the mother’s belly - this the only test which needs to be passed. It worked out - and the mother will accept and love her baby. And then she will carefully support the cub, even if he is too weak and finds it difficult to hold on. A mother monkey becomes extremely attached to her baby. And even if the baby died, she will carry the weak-willed little body with her for whole days: very carefully, gently, leaving only a short time while he eats. Gradually, the distance between the mother and the object of her unfulfilled hopes grows. She goes further and further in search of food. Gradually she returns to the already dried-out body for shorter periods of time, until one day, reluctantly and with obvious doubts, the mother monkey leaves the body, which by that time has turned into a shrunken ball of fur.”
(Sarah Blaffer Hardy, anthropologist and sociobiologist-primatologist).

In laboratories, workers separate mother and child by placing the mother monkey in what is called a “squeeze cage,” a device made of metal wire with a panel at the back that can be pushed forward with two handles. The mother and the cub clinging to her are pressed against the front wall of the cage, so that the limbs, body and face of the struggling mother are literally crushed by metal bars. The "press cage" is equipped with leg holes, which are typically used to restrain the limbs of an adult monkey for injection or blood collection. In the case of a mother and calf, the technician grabs the tail or limb of the calf through these holes and drags it towards himself, tearing it away from the mother's breast. If she has the strength and opportunity, the mother resists and tries to hold her baby, so that the technician almost tears off his limb, trying to tear him away from the mother. During this “procedure” the mother screams or makes barking-like sounds; The baby also screams shrilly. Both mother and calf defecate out of fear and stress. The baby is eventually pulled out through the leg hole.

Primate mothers form a close bond with their newborn baby almost immediately after birth. Researchers show that mothers are able to distinguish their children from others already in the first days after their birth. The infants of most species of macaques and baboons depend on their mothers for long periods; breastfed for at least a year. The newborn's matured siblings remain close to the mother, and while she feeds the newborn, they learn what to eat, where to sleep, and how to behave in case of danger. It is therefore not surprising that when a mother's baby is taken away, she is very for a long time experiences loss.

Primatologist Jessica Gana and Nancy Megna, a former animal care assistant at the laboratory, described what they saw at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center: “A mother screams in vain for a response from the baby stolen from her, or cries in grief. - her screams are like sorrowful lamentations. She does this all the time, sometimes sitting away from the rest of the group of monkeys, sometimes sitting under the cage door and looking out. When she saw a car belonging to the research center passing, she began to scream even more desperately. If a worker passed by the cage, the monkey walked along the cage next to him, looking into his face and continuing to scream sadly. The kids also cry pitifully and mournfully, in the hope that they will be returned to their mothers. This depressing, traumatic experience is repeated over and over again when the babies are taken away from the monkey mothers by researchers.”
http://www.stopanimaltests.com/Getactive.asp
http://www.stopanimaltests.com/primates-maternalbonds.asp#strongestbond

Baby animals sometimes have names that aren't obvious, and you may have even asked yourself questions like:

• What is a female ferret called?
• What is the name of a female deer, wood grouse, giraffe, peacock, woodpecker, wild boar?
• What is the name of a baby seal, walrus, swan, sheep, elk, badger?
• What is the name of a male duck, squirrel, cuckoo, pig, panther?
• What is the name of baby animals? For example, elephants, eagles and so on.

In a word, in this article we have collected the names of females - mothers, males - fathers, as well as the names of baby animals, including animals (aka mammals), birds, fish, insects, reptiles and amphibians.

If you haven’t found someone, be sure to write about it in the comments, and we will add this material as soon as possible.

The collected material is presented in the form of a table with 4 columns. The first column is the name of the male, the 2nd is the name of the female, the 3rd is the name of the baby animal, and in the last column is the name of the baby animal in the plural.

Note also that there are both colloquial names , which are acceptable in speech, but use them in a scientific report, or when preparing an essay, it will be incorrect .

Names of baby animals

Unfortunately, cases of physical disability are not uncommon among monkeys. Many of them lose limbs in traps left by hunters for other animals. However, among chimpanzees there are also people with disabilities from birth. But if wild nature is not a fertile springboard for studying the social skills of great apes, then in the conditions of reserves, research into the behavioral skills of chimpanzees becomes possible.

Baby chimpanzee with symptoms of Down syndrome

A team of scientists closely monitored a family of chimpanzees living in the Mahale Mountains, in national park Tanzania. It was there that a sick cub with signs resembling Down syndrome was spotted. At first, the researchers did not notice any abnormalities in the two newborn chimpanzees, one of which, a girl, was named XT11. The cubs' mother, Christina, cared equally for each of her offspring.

However, 6 months after birth, the first signs of developmental abnormalities in XT11 began to be noted. Her brother was more active, could sit independently, and was socially interested. The sick baby, on the contrary, did not show social interest in other members of the group of wild chimpanzees; she could not sit independently and was completely dependent on her mother.

Symptoms of the disease

Along with the supposed mental disability, scientists have noticed some physical abnormalities in the XT11. The baby had a large hernia on her abdomen, visible damage to her spine, areas on her body with bald patches, and an extra finger on her left hand. In addition, she often kept her mouth half open. Despite all this, the mother's care helped XT11 survive for almost two years.

Amazing mother behavior

In this study, the scientists were most interested in 37-year-old chimpanzee Christina. Previously, scientists had never seen how mothers in the wild interact with their disabled babies. When Christina realized that something was wrong with the cub, she completely adapted her usual behavior to the new realities: she carried the offspring on her chest, held it while feeding, and gave up hunting for her favorite delicacy - wild ants. In addition to this, Christina's eldest child also helped her mother in caring for the disabled person.

Collective family interaction

So, the poor cub could not move independently and constantly clung to its mother. Christina adapted to this, moving with only one free hand, while the second was busy supporting the disabled cub. Christina was ready to make all sorts of sacrifices, even giving up catching ants completely. However, she came to her aid eldest daughter, who temporarily took XT11 under her care, thereby allowing the tired mother to get enough of her favorite delicacy.

Hints of social activity in wild apes

This study gives us a clear idea that social care and mutual aid exist among wild chimpanzees. It was previously thought that apes did not show signs of social support and that this phenomenon in the process of evolution became an exclusive feature of ancient people. In reality, everything turned out to be somewhat different. It turns out that not only people can take care of their own kind.