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Development of Independence from the Mother in Gorilla gorilla gorilla

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Abstract

In gorillas, the mother takes full responsibility for carrying and feeding offspring, and lactational amenorrhea prevents her from investing in another offspring while suckling. Therefore, mothers should encourage immature gorillas to become gradually more independent until they are physically able to acquire sufficient resources, travel independently, and manage social relationships unaided. We investigated the development of independence in a population of wild western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) at Mbeli Bai, Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, Republic of Congo. We observed the spatial proximity, the development of travel, patterns of suckling and weaning, and the nature of mother-offspring interactions for 42 immature gorillas to investigate the nature of the relationship between mother and offspring. Though mother-offspring distance and independent travel increased during immaturity, with few active interactions between the dyads, offspring still continued to suckle until a median age of 4.6 yr, longer than in mountain gorillas. The tolerance of the mother toward suckling by older offspring may reflect the importance of continued nutritional investment: the temporal nature of the diet of western gorillas means that succulent fruits—likely to be preferred weaning foods—are not always available. We propose that to buffer against potential fruit shortage, mothers continue to nurse their offspring to decrease the likelihood of death from care-dependent factors and to improve an offspring’s chances of survival.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Ministère de l’Economie Forestière of Congo-Brazzaville and the Wildlife Conservation Society for permission to work in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park. We thank all staff of the Nouabalé-Ndoki Project, particularly Thomas Breuer, Emma Stokes, Mark Gately, and Bryan Curran. A University of Chester Gladstone Fellowship provided funding for A. Nowell.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Chester, Parkgate Road, Chester, CH1 4BJ, UK

    Angela A. Nowell & Alison W. Fletcher

  2. Mbeli Bai Study, Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, B.P. 14537, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo

    Angela A. Nowell

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  1. Angela A. Nowell
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Correspondence to Alison W. Fletcher.

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Nowell, A.A., Fletcher, A.W. Development of Independence from the Mother in Gorilla gorilla gorilla . Int J Primatol 28, 441–455 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-007-9128-6

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