Our vervets are at the start of their birth season, and we’ve already seen 11 babies born over the last three weeks! It’s so exciting to see the females with new babies, so much so that we are going into the field an extra day a week to see if we have any new additions to any of our troops.

One interesting side effect of these new arrivals is that their mothers seem to become much more central to the group, as other monkeys seem almost attracted to the newborns, and spend extra time grooming new mothers in an effort to get close to their offspring. It seems very similar to how human babies tend to attract so much attention as they are introduced to the extended family, or are simply strolled around in a pram through a park or shopping center. Monkeys will attempt to handle, carry, or in some species even attempt to nurse babies that are not their own. These behaviours are collectively termed “allomothering”. While monkeys of all ages engage in allomothering behaviours, younger individuals seem especially interested in the newborns. One theory is that this attraction, and tendency to try to handle infants is an important step in a young individual’s ability to learn how to be mothers themselves when they mature.

We recently had a bit of an extreme example of this allomothering behaviour, as one of our alpha females (Sasha) gave birth to a baby within 12 hours of another, more subordinate female (Holly). Within two hours of us discovering the new babies, the alpha female had forcefully “borrowed” the other mother’s baby, and continued to carry it around for at least the next two days! Because of their difference in rank, it was virtually impossible for the subordinate to gain access to her own infant. It’s strange that she would do this, as she was forced to move around and feed with two babies attached to her at all times; no easy task in itself, and a strategy that could potential be harmful to her own offspring. Thankfully, we found both babies today with their rightful mothers. Still, it’s amazing how attractive those babies must be for Sasha to have lugged around that extra weight for so long! It will be interesting to see if Sasha decides to leave Holly’s baby alone and focus on her own infant in the future, or whether she continues to use her high social rank to access the infants of other females.

Until next time,

Colin and the Verveteers!