Who takes care of the offspring. Named the ten worst mothers among animals. Construction of nests and their protection until the birth of offspring

With an extremely beautiful coat. Because of their amazing skin, they were on the verge of extinction in the recent past. This is due to people who exterminated beavers in huge numbers, using their skins for sewing fur coats and hats.

More hardworking animals are hard to find, they cannot live without work, they are born builders who use their strong teeth as tools. Beavers are also exemplary spouses and parents. Matriarchy reigns in their family, in a pair, the female and the male are very kind to each other and raise offspring together. If you are interested to know how beavers care for their cubs, read this article.

Description of beavers

In ancient times, the ancestors of beavers were of enormous size, their current descendants are not so large, but they cannot be called small rodents. An adult beaver reaches a length of 1.3-1.4 m and weighs 25-30 kg. Females are different large sizes. The female mother leads the whole family, it is she who organizes construction works and controls the filling of pantries with stocks for the winter.

The beaver's limbs are short, they move clumsily on land, but in the water they have no equal in swimming and diving. The muzzle is blunt, the ears are small. The fur consists of two layers: an outer red-brown hair and a thick undercoat. gray color. Such a “fur coat” is able to protect the beast from the cold and does not freeze in icy water.

The beaver uses a black hairless tail instead of an oar when maneuvering underwater. It is horizontally flat and covered with scales. The pride of these animals is their teeth. They are unusually strong and continue to grow throughout life. If these industrious rodents if they were not ground down daily on wood, it is impossible to imagine how long their teeth would grow.

in wild nature

The usual habitat of beavers is freshwater bodies that are surrounded by forests. At the same time, the reservoir should be deep, if it is a river, and not a lake, then the current in it should be very slow. In many cases, these water workers build dams and thus create for themselves right conditions. They work mainly at night, during the day they prefer to sit out in their underwater dwellings.

Beavers are convinced vegetarians, their menu consists only of woody and plant foods. AT summer time they eat leaves, buds, shoots and, of course, branches. They stock up on wood for the winter, the older couple makes the whole family work so that in winter there is enough food for both adults and adults. Since beavers take care of their cubs, they need to work a lot. Young people cannot take care of themselves until they live with their parents and learn how to survive from them.

How beavers take care of their cubs: from birth to 2 months

The mating season for beavers falls in the winter, when they have little work to do and they most spend time in their houses. Fertilization takes place in January - February. The female carries the babies for approximately 100 days. From 1 to 6 beavers are born at a time.

Babies see perfectly, their weight is about 0.5 kilograms. They have a fluffy coat from birth. After two or three days, the beavers are already able to swim. To the question of how beavers take care of their cubs, one can unequivocally answer - excellent! The beaver mother is very kind to the little ones, but at the same time she does not forget to teach them life with all rigor. To accustom them to water, the first time she has to push the resting beaver cubs into the underwater corridor by force. But this is only for their benefit, a caring female will never harm her offspring.

Up to two months, the beaver, one might say, does not leave the little critters, feeds them with milk, cleans their “fur coat”. After the babies are a month and a half old, they are gradually weaned and accustomed to regular food. First, they are given soft leaves and water lilies, in addition, they are also fed with mother's milk. All members of the family take care of the cubs, protect and monitor so that they do not get into trouble.

How animals take care of cubs (beavers): from 2 months to 2 years

In the first year of life, beavers are under the vigilant control of older relatives. Growing up, they get out and, together with adults, gradually merge into the working rhythm of life. Young people are too curious, often get into dangerous situations. Since beavers take care of their cubs in the most serious way, the growing offspring feel safe in the territory that the family occupies.

Before the end of the first year of life, young rodents reach a weight of about 10 kg. Up to the age of two, they live with their parents in their home. The family of beavers consists of a parent pair and their offspring of the current and last year.

For two years, beaver parents have been trying to teach their children everything they need in an independent life: building dams, dwellings, organizing pantries and how to store food for the winter, how to protect themselves from natural enemies.

At the age of two, trained young beavers must leave the territory of the family. They scatter around the area in search of a couple and, together with her, equip their own housing.

Care of animals of different species for their offspring

Most of the species of animals take care and protect their offspring better than some negligent people. You already know how animals (beavers) take care of their cubs. Here are some interesting facts about how parental care is manifested in other representatives of the animal world:

Lions always accompany the lion cub on a walk, keeping close to him and controlling his every step.
. The elephant will gladly adopt an abandoned or orphaned baby elephant and will take care of him no worse than own mother.
. The squirrel carefully wraps up its babies every time before leaving home, as they are born completely naked.
. When there is a strong heat, a protective pigment is released in the milk of a female hippopotamus. The little hippo feeds on reddish milk.
. If the conditions for the birth of a cub are unfavorable, the female armadillo is able to freeze the pregnancy. A baby can be born even after 2 years.

In dealing with babies, people and animals are very similar. This is what caring for the little ones in the animal kingdom looks like. Elephants can adopt someone else's baby elephant, which is not taken care of by its own mother. No wonder there is a cartoon about a mammoth, for which mom will come.
The larger and larger the animal, the more attention and care is given to the cub. Animals that give birth more often and large quantity cubs, pay much less attention to offspring. Here quality is compensated by quantity. And if 2-3 members of the offspring die, the rest will survive, and the population will be maintained.
Lions accompany a lion cub on a walk.
In the heat, a protective pigment is released into the milk of the female hippopotamus, and the mother feeds the baby with reddish milk.
Since the babies are born naked, the mother squirrel carefully wraps them in moss when she runs away from the nest.
Female armadillos can freeze the pregnancy if conditions are unfavorable and give birth to a baby two years later. And female armadillos only give birth to cubs of the same sex. She began to give birth to females, and will give birth to them. And the other female will give birth only to males.

Otter babies are born blind. The mother feeds them for several months: first with her milk, then she catches fish with them, after some time the cubs can already take care of themselves.
Pigeons, although they say a lot of good things about them, are creatures quite different in behavior. They have very different tempers. One male will help his female feed the babies. And the other will peck them. Just like people.
An hour later, a born giraffe cub is already firmly on its feet, and six hours after birth, it is already running and can eat grass.
Some types of crocodiles carry their cubs in the mouth or on the head of the female, otherwise zealous dads can eat them.
Swans are wonderful mothers. Almost constantly they look: are their babies doing well, comb out their feathers with their beak, carefully roll under the wing.
Papa fox helps the family to feed. Foxes raise from 3 to 13 cubs, it all depends on the food supply. If the year is fruitful, then foxes give birth more often and more foxes.
Learning life skills takes place in the form of a game. In this sense, lions are quite unique animals.
Bear cubs are born blind and deaf, after a few days they begin to see, hear, eat grass, grasshoppers, the main food is brought by the mother, and the older children help raise them.
After 3-4 years, the breeders grow up, the kids themselves become breeders. The bear father does not participate in the upbringing of offspring.
AT good year the female vole brings up to 8 litters, each of which contains 10-15 cubs.
A female Virginian opossum has up to 25 babies. And there are only ten nipples. The most impudent and hungry kids survive.
When an egg appears in the penguin family, the females go to sea for 3-4 months, and the father incubates the egg.
Gophers breed 6-8 cubs. During the spring rut, the males are the first to wake up, start whistling, and wake up the females. And they scream in hoarse drawling voices. Herons are careless mothers: when a kite arrives, they can let him carry the chicken away without even resisting. In addition, herons are quite dirty birds: they are just waiting for the moment to destroy a neighbor's nest or stir up the grass where other people's chicks sleep. And they look so beautiful!

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HOW ANIMAL CARES

ABOUT YOUR OFFspring

Maxim Kozak 3 "G" class

HOW ANIMAL CARE OF THEIR OFFspring

The success of the survival of the offspring to a large extent depends on the adequacy of the behavior of the parents. Caring for offspring in many animals begins with preparation for its birth. Often, seasonal migrations of animals are associated with moving to breeding areas, sometimes many thousands of kilometers from their habitat. Animals that do not make such long journeys also choose their nesting territory in advance, and many of them carefully guard it and prepare shelters - nests, burrows, dens adapted for future offspring.

1. Caring for the offspring of bears.

Females produce offspring every three years. In October or November, pregnant bears leave with sea ​​ice and head to the nearest land in search of a place for a lair where they raise their offspring during the long polar night. Having reached land, the she-bear looks for a suitable place for a long time until she chooses a depression or a cave in a snowdrift of old snow. Gradually, blizzards cover the lair and leave traces that give away its location. A few months later, tiny bear cubs no larger than a rat appear inside the snow den. Newborn bears, burrowing into their mother's fur, immediately look for nipples and begin to suck. The claws of the baby bear are curved and sharp - this helps him to hold on to the soft fur on the belly of the bear.

Meanwhile, the female is starving, and her weight drops by almost half. But she can go hunting only when her children grow up and gain strength. The cubs need time to get used to the arctic temperature after several months of living in a den warm from their mother's body. After 2-3 months, the weight of the cubs increases by 4-5 times, and the family begins to take short walks in the immediate vicinity of the dwelling. The she-bear introduces the cubs to a new environment, teaches hunting skills and shows amazing patience for frisky games and curiosity of cubs. The she-bear takes care of her cubs until they become independent.

Fathers, as is often the case in nature, do not take the slightest part in the fate of their offspring, shifting all the worries about the food of the cubs onto the shoulders of the she-bear. However, food is not the only problem facing a female with cubs. The real threat comes from adult males who compete with each other for possession of the female. Given the chance, a large male could easily kill her cubs. The female will then go into heat again and he can mate with her to ensure that the next generation will inherit his genes. Therefore, females are very vigilant and do not let the cubs go far from them.

2. Caring for offspring in monkeys.

Procreation - most important aspect animal life. In some animals, caring for offspring takes only a short period of time after birth. However, in monkeys, children are born completely defenseless, and they require quite a long care. This period can last for months, and often years. Even after the young are able to take care of themselves, they remain in close contact with their mother. For two to ten years, depending on the species, young primates are not only under the protection of their mother, but also receive training from her.
In early childhood, small monkeys feed on mother's milk and gradually, over several months, switch to the usual food for their species. The mother is not only a nurse for the cub, but also a protector. Caring for offspring comes to an end when the cubs reach puberty, but this can happen even earlier if another baby is born to the mother.

3. Caring for the offspring of foxes.

Before offspring married couple cleans the burrow and the female spends most of her time in it. The male fox cubs only in the first days after birth, when the female does not leave the hole at all, brings her food, and then returns to a single life. All care for the offspring falls on the female: she skillfully obtains food, and selflessly protects the cubs. A mother fox barks at a person from behind the bushes, trying to distract his attention from the hole, and tries to take the dog away

4. Caring for offspring in lions.

If the lioness becomes pregnant, then after 3.5 months, shortly before the birth, she again leaves the pride. She finds a shady, inconspicuous place and offspring are born there - from 1 to 6, on average, three lion cubs. For the first time, their mother takes care of them, and after returning to the pride, all lionesses are equally affectionate with the cubs and do not distinguish between their own and others. In a pride, lion cubs are born synchronously, which gives them an advantage: it is known that mutual feeding and collective defense significantly reduce the mortality of cubs. The role of a lion in caring for offspring is primarily to protect the pride from stray male lions. He can also make sure that when the prey is divided, the cubs get their portion. But females protect cubs from predators.

5. Caring for offspring in hippos.

The emergence of a new life is always amazing and wonderful! Watching how caring and gentle the new mother is, how touchingly clumsy and

beautiful newborn babies of animals, it is interesting to know how pregnancy proceeds and childbirth occurs in hippos.

Pregnancy lasts 8 months (227-240 days according to various sources). Feeling the approach of childbirth, the female leaves the herd to a secluded place. It gives birth, in most cases, under water, less often on land. If childbirth on land is inevitable, then the expectant mother prepares something resembling nests from the surrounding bushes. To do this, she tramples bushes and grass. A newborn baby weighs 25-50 kg, most often 40 kg crumbs are born. Its length is about a meter, the shoulders are 50 cm wide. If the little one is born under water, then the female pushes him with her muzzle to the surface so that he does not suffocate, as he can only hold his breath for 40 seconds. The newborn hippo already stands on his own feet, after 5 minutes from the moment of birth.

For the first 10 days, the mother is with her child, practically does not eat anything. She is ready and able to defeat even a tiger if he shows even the slightest threat to her beloved cub. Only when he is strong enough to go ashore on his own does the mother move away from the newborn a little. Feeding usually occurs within 4-18 months. And surprisingly, the baby is able to suck milk both on land and in water, tightly pressing the nostrils and ears to the body.

In the water, the female helps the baby to swim, gently pushing him with her muzzle. When the baby gets tired, she takes it on her back (on the scruff) and carries it on herself. In the herd, the mother pushes all adult males away from the baby so that they do not crush him in a crush.

In the animal kingdom, there are the most different forms caring for offspring: from complete absence to the most complex and long-term relationships between children and parents. In its simplest form, care for offspring is present in all organisms and is expressed in the fact that reproduction occurs only under conditions favorable for offspring - in the presence of food, a suitable temperature, etc.

Internet.

Sites: Caring for offspring, Caring for offspring in lions, Caring for offspring in hippos, Caring for offspring in monkeys, The meaning of caring for offspring, Photos of animals with cubs.


Work description

The success of the survival of the offspring to a large extent depends on the adequacy of the behavior of the parents. Caring for offspring in many animals begins with preparation for its birth. Often seasonal migrations animals are associated with movement to breeding areas, sometimes many thousands of kilometers from their habitat. Animals that do not make such long journeys also choose their nesting territory in advance, and many of them carefully guard it and prepare shelters - nests, burrows, dens adapted for future offspring.

Many females treat their cubs so strangely that one can only be surprised

People often condemn the behavior of male fathers who do not have parental instinct and remain uninvolved in the fate of the offspring, however, many females treat their cubs so strangely that one can only be surprised. Bad mothers, it turns out, are not so few in the animal world, and ten of the worst were on the Discovery News list.

whiskered tamarin

These primates look incredibly cute, but this does not mean that they are kind and caring. Female baleen tamarins sometimes kill their young. "Through genetic analysis, it was found that females kill their own offspring," said Ivan Lledo-Ferrer, a scientist who studied primates at the Autonomous University of Madrid.

But Lledo-Ferrer explained that females kill those cubs that are ill-equipped for survival, taking into account the social attitudes of individual groups. Whatever it is, it looks terrible. Female mothers can take their cub and drop it to the ground from a tall tree.

Photo by Postdlf from wikimedia.org

Chimpanzee

Cases have been seen of female chimpanzees with daughters joining forces to kill other members of their species, just like Bonnie and Clyde. In the 1970s, primatologist Jane Goodall discovered such violent behavior in a mother and daughter of the chimpanzees Passhen and Pom. Together they killed and ate two alien cubs.

Simon Townsend of the Scottish University of St. Andrews believes that female chimpanzees kill strangers to secure a certain territory. Fortunately, not all females behave so aggressively.


Photo by Flickr user Steve

harp seal

Baby harp seals are probably one of the cutest creatures on earth - white, fluffy, big-eyed lumps. They are born in March or February, the female gives birth to only one puppy (belek). Seals are very good mothers - they protect, care for and feed their young with great tenderness. But their maternity leave It doesn't last very long - just two weeks. Then they leave the baby to fend for himself - alone on the icy surface, and the puppy can only survive thanks to fat reserves and ... luck.


Photo by Matthieu Godbout from wikimedia.org

Kangaroo

Mother kangaroos are known all over the world, they often risk their lives for the sake of their children. However, in difficult situation female kangaroos may sacrifice their offspring. This happens when a female has three cubs or when they are on different stages development: one in the womb, the other in the bag, and the third spends most of the time outside the bag.

If the family is threatened with starvation or the female is physically weak, she can leave the older cub to its fate and free her bag, which can lead to a one-time death of all offspring.


Photo fir0002 from flagstaffotos.com.au

Lioness

Sometimes the inaction of lionesses is much more destructive than their active actions. Becoming the leader of a pride, the dominant male may kill many cubs under the age of two years to get rid of possible competitors. The lioness does not protect them and can even create new family with new alpha.


Photo by Flickr user David Dennis

Giant panda

females giant panda can only kill their young by accident. These large mammals weigh up to 127 kilograms and their babies are very small. At birth, their weight is only 150-200 grams. Giant panda females may accidentally crush their cubs in their sleep.


Photo by Joshua Doubek from wikimedia.org

Sea Horse

At seahorses offspring are carried by males. Male seahorses do most of the work and are very prolific. And the female, in addition to sharing a couple of eggs, does nothing for her children. After the fry hatch, they must survive on their own - neither mother nor father takes care of them.

“The most advanced form of male guardianship is found among seahorses. Their brood pouch has developed to the placenta, and the males are actively working for the good of their offspring,” says Peter Teske, PhD from Macquarie University.


Photo by Jaro Nemčok from cfnemcok.sk

Ant Dracula

The queens and worker ants, aptly named "Dracula", pierce the shells of their own larvae and suck out their "blood". This behavior is scientifically called eating the hemolymph of the larvae. Oddly enough, the larvae survive, but such “nutrition” definitely does not benefit them.


Photo by April Nobile from AntWeb.org

Galapagos shark

Many species of sharks, including the Galapagos shark, eat members of their own species. Hungry females do not care who is. If they find a baby shark, they will eat it indiscriminately, even if it is a member of its own species.


Photo from pifsc.noaa.gov

Guinea fowl

Guinea fowl - african birds, but now they are domesticated and bred all over the world. Guinea fowl chicks receive a truly Spartan upbringing. Mothers ruthlessly pull the entire brood on long journeys in any weather. A large number of chickens die in such campaigns from getting wet and hypothermia. Resourceful owners, when breeding at home, use chickens as nannies for guinea fowl chicks.


Photo by Gouldingken from wikimedia.org

    To complete the 3rd grade assignment around the world and draw a picture of how pets take care of their offspring, I chose a pet cat and her offspring of kittens.

    Really cat good mom, she loves to take care of her babies, licks their eyes while they are still blind, so that they open them as soon as possible, feeds them with her milk and warms her body.

    AT wild nature wild cat hunts various rodents and brings them to her kittens.

    This is how you can gradually draw how a cat feeds her kittens

    A drawn cat with kittens with a simple pencil can be colored with colored pencils.

    Pets raise their offspring take care about him, feed, guard.

    Even a kind dog becomes stricter when she has puppies and someone else wants to see her offspring. Dogs don't like it very much.

    The cat is constantly dragging her kittens from place to place - looking for the most intimate, safe place for her cubs.

    Here is a very simple drawing of a cat hugging kittens so that they do not run away from a strict mother.

    A dog washing a puppy. A cat carrying a kitten in a nest so to speak. Or a cat protecting kittens from a dog

    Pets include all those animals that man managed to tame. It is so interesting to watch how pets take care of their babies! A cow licks her calf, a cat trains a kitten to catch mice, a dog endures playful biting from her puppy, a hen shelters chickens from the weather...

    It is not so easy for a child to draw. You can paste a photo. Or make a simple drawing.

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