Difficulties chimpanzee mothers under captivities face in providing maternal care: Early maternal separation or social deprivation are not the only reason
2007
Kakinuma, M.(Nippon Veterinary and Life Science Univ., Musashino, Tokyo (Japan)) | Hatakeyama, H. | Tsuchida, A. | Uemura, K.
Chimpanzees under captivities are known to have difficulties in raising babies. Early maternal separation and lack of social interaction with peers have been pointed out as the cause. We have looked over the child rearing behavior of captive chimpanzees in Japan using Great Ape Information Network (GAIN). The results shows that rate of difficulties mother chimpanzees face are as high for those without early separation or the social isolation. Those under captivities sometimes have much shorter birth intervals before giving birth to the next baby, resulting in shorter breast feeding period for the older sibling. Some of the chimpanzees in Tama Zoological Park, Tokyo, Japan had difficulties raising the baby, not by the refusal by the mother, but due to the lack of breast milk. Our data suggest that upon deciding on reproduction, it is important to go through the history of the would be mother in terms of the early separation from the mother or the experiences of social isolation or the number of birth, but also to conduct some physiological tests to see if the milk would be available for the baby. Artificially nursed chimpanzees often end up in social isolation, resulting in poor quality of life and very costly as well that it is very important to take the caution for the reproduction of captive chimpanzees.
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