The importance of a mother
With today being Mother’s Day, we as humans express our gratitude to the women who helped shape us.
But we humans aren’t the only ones with a mother that serves an important role.
Animals may rely on their mother’s just as much if not more than we do.
In the animal kingdom it’s a mother’s job to give life and then nurture it.
Teaching right from wrong and how to survive independently in the wild.
“The mother is the most important thing to the offsprings. They depend on them for their survival. Without them they wouldn’t know what to eat, they wouldn’t know who to be scared of they wouldn’t know the dangers out there for them. So the mom has to teach them everything.” Says Debbie Graham, a Veterinary Technician at the Salisbury Zoo.
Not only does the mother teach but she protects.
In the wild, young animals on their own have a slim chance of surviving.
To that, Graham said, “When the moms not present they don’t stray away from the mom very far because that’s when it would be most dangerous. They would be more susceptible to danger at that point.”
There’s no substitute for the bond between an animal and their mother.
Debbie Graham also tells 47 ABC that if an animal is prematurely separated from their mother, a human has to intervene which is necessary to save the animal. However, this may also stunt their natural development.
“They just don’t act like the species they are. They would have more human characteristics which isn’t always a good thing.” And “We want them to be bears, we want them to be the animals they are, and a lot of time they don’t develop those characteristics without the mom.” Said Graham.
But as with many mother and child relationships the time comes when the child can fend for itself and begins its own journey into the wild to create a life and family of its own.
Most species of animals end up leaving their mothers and families only when they are mature enough depending on their gender, while others such as primates will typically stay in large family groups for their entire lives.
