Chimpanzee Reproduction

Chimpanzee Reproduction

In some of the troops there is a dominant male and he is the only one that will mate with the females. With this type of set up in place, these males that belong will often battle with each other to be the dominant leader. In other troops though the mating occurs often between various males and females. There is no real order to it but it is believed that when they have lots of food and habitat they will mate more frequently.

It is also believed that Chimpanzees take part in the mating process for social interaction at times. It may not have anything to do with the efforts of reproducing which is the case for most animals. The females can go through a cycle of estrus that lasts for approximately 36 days.

It is during this period of time that they will be likely to become pregnant. The males will be attracted to the additional hormonal scents that the females offer during this period of time. In many instances though the hormones cause the females to take the initiative and they will seek out males to mate with.

For the Chimpanzee mating can occur any time of the year. It is more likely to occur though during the rainy season. This is when they have lots of leaves and fruits to feed from. They also have cooler temperatures around them that can offer them higher levels of energy.

The female will carry the offspring in her body for a period of time that ranges from 200 to 260 days. The average is 230 days and they are only a couple of pounds in size when they are born. There is usually only one born but twins are quite common. In fact, the chances of twins are higher than for humans.

The mother will carry her young with her for the first six months of life. She does all she can to protect it from danger. After six months of age it can start to move around on its own but is encouraged to stay close. It can also ride on the mother’s back. Should something happen to the mother, these young Chimpanzees will be adopted by other females. If they are weaned they are sometimes looked after by males.

A female will only give birth once approximately every five years. That gives her plenty of time to focus her attention on the young one she has with her. Should her baby die though she will mourn the loss heavily. They create very strong bonds with their offspring. She will likely mate again after such a loss to help her deal with it.

She may remain very close to her older offspring even when she has new young. This is a very interesting fact as she will do what she can to care for all of them. The older siblings often lend a hand too with the care of the younger ones.

The males typically don’t do much in the way of caring for the young. However, they do engage in playful activities with them as they get older. Sometimes they are extremely aggressive with the young so they are closely monitored by the mothers. It has been noted that the males may try to feed on the young in a troop when food resources are extremely low.