Journal
ZOO BIOLOGY
Volume 23, Issue 4, Pages 375-378Publisher
WILEY-LISS
DOI: 10.1002/zoo.20001
Keywords
Gorilla beringei; behavior; allomothering; infant deaths
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This report describes prolonged carriage of the corpses of two mountain gorilla infants by both related and unrelated adult females. Two hypotheses regarding this transport are considered: 1) that maternal behavior toward unrelated infants may be a by-product of the hormonal condition of pregnancy, and 2) that the animals may be learning to mother, as nulliparous females could benefit from the experience of handling an infant that is no longer alive. Some factors pertinent to the event of infant deaths in captivity are considered. (C) 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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