This investigation sought to describe the mother-infant relationship during infant development in captive chimpanzees.
Two mother-infant pairs of chimpanzees at the Tama Zoological Park were the subjects of this study. The infants, respectively two (Nana) and three (Apple) years old, were observed at a week interval over a year.
On the basis of naturalistic observations,
1) the physical and cognitive development of infants were assessed,
2) the effect of other chimpanzees “especially siblings” on the mother-infant relationship was ascertained
Results indicated that these infants, from 2 to 3 years old, were more independent from their mothers than 0 or 1 year olds. But, contrary to expectations, Apple, 3 years old, appeared to be more dependent on its mother than 2 years old Nana. It is thought that Nana's siblings and the mother's ranking may have been responsible for this. Thus, after 2 years old, the mother-infant relationship becomes apparently affected by the social organization.
These results are discussed with other studies about chimpanzees and early human mother-infant interactions.
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