The importance of child's play

BBC Wildlife|May 2024

Chimpanzee mothers prioritise playtime with their offspring, even when food is scarce

- Helen Pilcher

NEW RESEARCH INTO THE BEHAVIOUR OF chimpanzee mothers, published in Current Biology, shows that they prioritise tickling, chasing and playing with their youngsters, in order to help give them the best start in life.

Play is not very common in the wild, at least among adult animals. It might be fun but it uses up a lot of energy, so the practice tends to be restricted to youngsters, where it plays a key role in developing physical and social skills. Adult chimps are unusual because they play with each other and with their young, but researchers expected to see that when food supplies dwindle, the adults would ditch play in favour of foraging.

この記事は BBC Wildlife の May 2024 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアムストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

すでに購読者です ? サインイン

この記事は BBC Wildlife の May 2024 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアムストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

すでに購読者です? サインイン

BBC WILDLIFEのその他の記事すべて表示

BBC Wildlife

Jump Around - Bagheera Kiplingi - The acrobatic spider with a predilection for veggie food

Spiders eat flies, right? everyone knows that the 45,000 or so spiders in the world are all obligate carnivores, more or less – eating other animals, mainly invertebrates. Nature, however, loves an exception, and one particular spider missed out on that ecological memo. It goes by the wonderful scientific name of Bagheera kiplingi, and its claim to fame is that its diet is – at least mostly – vegetarian.

3 分 |

November 2024

BBC Wildlife

Female of the Species - Zebras - A strong sisterhood is key to staying safe

Zebras are masters of confusion. Their collective noun is ‘a dazzle’, which is fitting since their bodies and behaviour have been surprising scientists for centuries.

2 分 |

November 2024

BBC Wildlife

See It, Save It? - Wildlife tourism can be a powerful ally in protecting nature - but it can also harm it. We weigh up the pros and cons.

The sums of wildlife travel aren’t as simple as more tourists equals happier nature. How much did my visit really contribute to the conservation of Lady Liuwa and her habitat – and was that outweighed by carbon emissions from my flights? Did my presence disturb the animals’ natural behaviour more than it reduced the threat of poaching or benefited local communities?The question of whether wildlife travel is, on balance, good for wildlife is a complex one – and there’s no simple answer.

8 分 |

November 2024

BBC Wildlife

Can Your Really Offset Emissions? - Planning an overseas wildlife-watching trip entails facing some inconvenient truths

Imagine (or maybe you don't need to) that you hanker after the safari trip of a lifetime in sub-Saharan Africa. A 17-day tour beginning at the iconic Victoria Falls, passing through Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania, taking in some of the continent’s most wildlife-rich national parks, and ending on the lush island of Zanzibar.

5 分 |

November 2024