Chimpanzee Mothers: Champions of Play Even in Times of Food Scarcity
ITA version here ESP version here
A recent study conducted in Kibale National Park in Uganda has revealed a surprising behavior among female chimpanzees: despite the scarcity of food, mothers continue to play with their young, playing a crucial role in the physical and social development of their offspring.
Kibale National Park is known to be the most densely populated primate forest in the world, with over 1,000 chimpanzees residing there. Researchers, led by Zarin Machanda and Kris Sabbi from Harvard University, began habituating chimpanzees to human presence in 1987, collecting detailed behavioral observations including climbing, feeding, grooming, and play.
Through the examination of 3,891 episodes of adult play recorded within the chimpanzee community of Kanyawara, researchers not only observed that this practice persists in adults unlike most other mammals, but also evaluated how adult play is influenced by diet quality. While play between adults and unrelated immatures decreased during food scarcity, play between mothers and offspring persisted, suggesting that this type of play was less constrained compared to play with other partners.
The observation that mothers continue to play with their young despite food scarcity underscores the crucial importance of play in the animal world and the extraordinary dedication of chimpanzee mothers in ensuring the well-being of their offspring, even in the most challenging times. This suggests that chimpanzee mothers play a crucial role in the physical and social development of their young, even when facing the threat of food scarcity.
That adult chimpanzees play to build relationships or support learning opportunities for younger group members evaluations of the potential functions and evolution of play are incomplete without considering its costs. The fact that chimpanzee mothers bear these costs even when ecology constrains other aspects of their social behavior primarily reveals a hidden cost of motherhood for this species, where, as with humans, mothers are important play partners for their offspring.
SOURCE
Pic Source
