Methodology used for the study of early mother-infant behaviour in Bornean orangutan (Pongo p. pygmaeus Linnaeus, 1760)

Resum

Orangutans are endangered and some captive females have failed in rearing their offspring. Because of this a multiparous Bornean female, Pongo p. pygmaeus, and her 3-months-old daughter were studied for two weeks (30 hours of observation in all), using exact time, sequential and point sampling methods. Most of the time the infant was in ventro-ventral contact with her mother end. when there was no contact, the infant was within the mother’s arm reach; the carrying position was side-ventral; proximity between the pair was maintained mainly by the mother; there was little grooming of the infant by the mother, and the infant sucked one nipple as often as the other. After comparinginfantrearing practices in captivity and in the wild, it is concluded that multiparous mothers are better mothers than primiparous ones and that the mother wav rearing her infant in the normal way.