Carriage of Infants by a Silverback Mountain Gorilla

Citation

Warren Y & Williamson EA (2001) Carriage of Infants by a Silverback Mountain Gorilla. Folia Primatologica, 72 (4), pp. 245-247. https://doi.org/10.1159/000049944

Abstract
First paragraph: A previously unreported behaviour in mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei) studied at the Karisoke Research Centre, Rwanda, is described in this paper. The silverback, Pablo, was seen carrying an infant in front of another silverback, Cantsbee. There is great interspecific and intraspecific variation in male primate interactions with immatures [1, 2]. Amongst the great apes, silverback mountain gorillas [3, 4] and adult male orangutans [5] rarely interact with infants, adult male chimpanzees transport and play with infants to varying degrees [6]. Two hypotheses are proposed to explain Pablo's behaviour: agonistic buffering [7] and paternal investment [8].

Keywords
gorilla; agonistic buffering; Gorilla behavior; Parental behavior in animals; Animals Infancy

Journal
Folia Primatologica: Volume 72, Issue 4