Monkeys and their babies. Family idyll. Loria family and tarsier family
The chimpanzee is the star among primates. People love them. They make films, come to see these monkeys in zoos. We think we know everything about chimpanzees, but do we?
Many people think that these are cute great apes, but in fact, wild chimpanzees are very warlike. These animals live in Africa, namely in tropical forests and humid savannahs, in the west and in the center of the continent. They once inhabited most of this area, but their habitat has been drastically reduced in the last ten years.
These monkeys live in groups of ten or twelve individuals. Unlike, where the female is the head, the opposite is true for chimpanzees. Males are at the top of the hierarchy.
Chimpanzees eat everything. The main diet includes insects, fruits, leaves and small vertebrates. You can see chimpanzees hunting other animals, including small monkeys. They catch them, tear them to pieces, and then eat them. Also during the defense or seizure of territory, chimpanzees are able to kill each other. Invaders usually kill males and cubs, females are almost not touched. During the kill, monkeys often tear off the victim's genitals or tear the throat. The most mass killings occur in populations living far from humans. At the same time, it has been observed that these primates are able to mourn for dead relatives, as well as members of the population who are not related to them.
But naturally, chimpanzees are not such monsters. Females love their offspring very much. It has even been observed that they are able to care for helpless and incapacitated individuals. We saw this in one of the parks in Tanzania. The female gave birth to a baby with a deformed spine and paw, the cub's mouth was half open, and no emotions were expressed on the muzzle. These signs are similar to Down's Syndrome, which sometimes occurs in chimpanzees that reproduce in captivity. The mother not only did not abandon the weak cub, but, together with her eldest daughter, showed increased care. Unfortunately, the baby died 23 months after birth. She could not switch to solid food.
There is also a case where a pregnant female chimpanzee took custody of an orphaned cub. It happened at the Australian zoo. The female named Suna could not cope with the complications during childbirth and died leaving her cub alone. It was surprising that at first the male Gombe took care of the baby, but the female Zombie (who will soon become a mother) who lived in the same enclosure, took the orphan to her.
A female chimpanzee named Zombie and an orphan she adopted
Perhaps the most interesting thing is that these monkeys have a sense of humor. Scientists have long known that some animals can "mechanically" laugh, but not chimpanzees. We found this out thanks to a series of experiments that were carried out in 2009 on chimpanzees and newborn children. Experts have learned that monkeys react to being tickled in the same way as humans.
At the next stage of the experiment, the researchers needed to find out whether the smile of a chimpanzee is a reflection of certain emotions. The experiment was carried out in a protected area in Zambia. Scientists observed 22 males and 24 females aged from two to thirty-five years. For several years, studying the behavior of primates in a variety of situations, scientists have found a connection between laughter and events. Animals used all the same groups of facial muscles as people in similar situations. In addition, chimpanzees used their rich facial expressions to reflect different emotions. This confirms that chimpanzees have a very rich intellect.
Speaking of intelligence, did you know that chimpanzees are aware of their existence? Passing the mirror test confirms the presence of self-awareness in these primates. The mirror test is an experiment that helps determine if an animal can recognize itself in a mirror. It is the primary indicator of self-awareness in animals and a sign of entering the mirror phase in human children in developmental psychology.
You can often see chimpanzees with tools in the jungles of Africa. For example, in the mountains of Guinea, primates use stone and wooden knives. Which help them grind the fruits of the Treculia trees into smaller portions. The fruits of this tree are too big and heavy for chimpanzees, which is why they use knives.
Chimpanzees also crack nuts with stones, but it happens that it is difficult to reach the kernel with their fingers, then they use special sticks. And in order to take care of the tools, the monkeys use “sponges” made of leaves and moss. These sponges also help to suck up water, the animal lowers the tool into the water and then brings it to the root and sucks out the contents.
Chimpanzee with tools
Unfortunately, among the monkeys, cases of physical disability are not uncommon. Many of them lose limbs in traps left by hunters for other animals. However, among chimpanzees there are also disabled people from birth. But if the wild nature is not a fertile springboard for studying the social skills of anthropoid apes, then in the conditions of reserves, research on the behavioral skills of chimpanzees becomes possible.
Baby chimpanzee with symptoms of Down syndrome
A group of scientists closely monitored a family of chimpanzees living in the Mahale Mountains in the National Park of Tanzania. It was there that a sick cub was seen with signs resembling Down syndrome. Initially, the researchers did not notice any abnormalities in two newborn chimpanzees, one of whom, a girl, was given the name XT11. The mother of the cubs, Christina, took equal care of each of her offspring. 
However, 6 months after birth, the first signs of developmental deviations in XT11 began to be noted. Her brother was more active, able to sit up by himself and showed social interest. The sick baby, on the contrary, showed no social interest in other members of the group of wild chimpanzees, she could not sit up on her own and was completely dependent on her mother.
Symptoms of the disease
Along with the alleged mental disability, scientists have noticed some physical abnormalities in XT11. The baby had an impressive hernia on her stomach, visible injuries of the spine, areas on the body with bald patches, an extra finger on her left hand. In addition, she often kept her mouth half open. Despite all this, mother's care kept XT11 alive for nearly two years. 
Mother's amazing behavior
In this study, the 37-year-old chimpanzee Christina aroused the greatest interest of scientists. Previously, scientists have 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 new realities: she carried the offspring on her chest, held it while feeding, and refused to hunt her favorite delicacy - wild ants. In addition to this, Christina's eldest child also helped her mother in caring for a disabled person.
Collective interaction of the family
So, the poor cub could not move independently and constantly clung to the mother. Christina adapted to this, moving with only one free hand, while the other at that time was busy supporting the cub with a disability. Christina was ready to make all sorts of sacrifices, even giving up ant-catching altogether. However, her eldest daughter came to her aid, who temporarily took XT11 under her care, thereby allowing her tired mother to get enough of her favorite treat. 
Hint of social activity in wild monkeys
This study gives us a clear idea that there is social care and mutual aid in the wild chimpanzee environment. Previously, it was thought that great apes did not show signs of social support and that this phenomenon in the course of evolution became an exclusive feature of ancient people. In fact, everything turned out to be somewhat different. It turns out that not only people can take care of their own kind.
40-year-old chimpanzee Yutta, the mother of young Mu (2 years old), had a serious problem with her teeth - two incisors were broken. Primates live in the Aalborger Zoo, Copenhagen. The stumps were so short that veterinarian Trin Hammer Jensen decided
40-year-old chimpanzee Yutta, the mother of young Mu (2 years old), had a serious problem with her teeth - two incisors were broken. Primates live in the Aalborger Zoo, Copenhagen.
The stumps were so short that veterinarian Trin Hammer Jensen decided to have them removed.
“As soon as we started administering anesthesia to Jutta, Mu became so nervous that we decided to leave her next to her mother.”
For the doctors who performed the operation, the excited baby chimpanzee meant additional stress. Mu fidgeted 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 a success.
Chimpanzees have lost two teeth. Now Jutta and Mu are doing well, they were returned to the rest of the primates.
Monkeys are not in vain considered relatives of people. In particular, chimpanzees demonstrate achievements unprecedented in the animal world, demonstrating their high intellectual abilities. Many studies show that these primates have self-awareness and self-identification, 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 the new section "Our Dairy Brothers", which we are opening in this issue of the magazine, we will talk about representatives of that class of living beings, to which we belong. The class of mammals unites the most diverse animals in size and appearance - from a tiny pygmy shrew the size of a newborn's fist and weighing a little more than a gram to an African elephant 4.5 m high and weighing 7.5 tons and a blue whale, whose length reaches 33 m with a mass 150 tons. What unites them all? Every schoolchild knows the answer to this question: like a person, they all have mammary glands and feed their cubs with milk.
Varvara Meshik
Head of the Primate Department of the Moscow Zoo, Ph.D.
It is logical to start acquaintance 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 great apes, or gibbons, and large great apes, or pongids (they are divided into three genera: orangutans, chimpanzees and gorillas). Great apes live in the tropical forests and plains of Africa (chimpanzees and gorillas), Southeast 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 dense foliage in the middle of the trees. They usually move through the trees only with the help of their hands. They feed on plant foods, sometimes they eat bird eggs and chicks, as well as ants and termites (chimpanzees). Chimpanzees and gorillas are considered closest to humans. Sometimes, bonobos, close relatives of chimpanzees, are distinguished as a separate genus of great apes, although they have a number of significant differences. It is bonobos that more than other monkeys resemble humans in terms of metabolic features, social organization and behavior. Chimpanzees are more "advanced" in instrumental behavior, gorillas are known for their ability to 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 great apes approaches that of humans: 210-235 days for gibbons, 225 days for chimpanzees, 275 days for orangutans, 250-290 days for gorillas. Great apes breed all year round, females, like women, have menstrual cycles (lasting 30 - 40 days), puberty begins at 7 - 10 years. Life expectancy is from 30 to 60 years.
Due to the fact that the specialization of the Moscow Zoo is the breeding of orangutans, we will tell you more about them.
orangutans are large monkeys. The growth 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 much smaller than males. At 10 - 12 years old, orangutans start a family, and they choose their life partner quite carefully. Under natural conditions, the male occupies a vast territory, within which there are territories of several females (with cubs). He visits them one by one, sometimes they all gather together. A pregnant female orangutan has a special social status (for example, in captivity, she is first allowed to feed, 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 him, eats the membranes and afterbirth, bites the umbilical cord and applies it to the chest. From this moment, for two or three weeks, the mother will carry the newborn cub all the time in the literal sense of the word in her arms, until he himself learns to hold tightly to her hair with his fingers. For another 3-4 years, he will have to eat 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 the milk teeth, which are replaced by permanent ones by the age of seven. Orangutans are very clean, the mother carefully monitors hygiene: she licks the baby's face and genitals. The pope does not take part in childbirth and, in general, treats with some apprehension both the very process of the birth of an heir, and subsequent communication with him. This is facilitated by the behavior of the mother, who is very gentle and reverent towards the baby and is ready to protect him from any dangers. Subsequently, when the baby grows up, communication and games with dad occur at the initiative of the cub. In general, a calm, friendly atmosphere reigns in the orangutan family, the baby is never punished, the attitude towards him varies from rudely good-natured to outbursts of tender love.