10 Animals’ Unique Ways of Raising Their Children
These animals have some very unique ways of raising their children.
- Orangutans, the Strong Bond
Continuous close nurturing in a child’s early years is crucial to becoming a fully functioning adult. Baby orangutans spend the first two years completely attached to their mother, depending on her for both food and transportation.
After this period, the mother orangutan spends about five years teaching her child everything she needs to know about how to survive on her own – how to find food, build a nest to sleep in, and more.
- African elephants train their babies in herds
To raise an African elephant, you’ll definitely need a herd. These gentle giants live in a matriarchal society, where the cohesion of social groups is crucial to survival. Other female elephants assist the new mother by lifting her newborn calf with her feet, adjusting the pace of the herd to keep her calf from falling behind, and even helping her calf nurse.
Throughout their childhood, baby elephants learn important survival skills by watching and imitating both their mothers and their mates.
- Caribbean Flamingo, the Importance of Proper Nutrition
In the world of flamingos, both parents share the responsibility of raising their young. Mom and dad take turns feeding a nutritious, milky red liquid from their digestive tracts into the hungry chicks’ mouths until they are old enough to eat solid food. What’s more, flamingo parents do this for quite some time, ensuring that the flamingo chicks are strong enough to continue feeding.
- Cheetah, teamwork
A cheetah litter typically has between two and six cubs. During the first year and a half of a cub’s life, the mother cheetah spends much of her time moving the family from den to den, protecting them from predators and teaching them to hunt together.
When the cubs are ready for action, they form a sibling group that hunts together for six months without their mother.
- Nile Crocodiles Fiercely Protect Their Cubs
Nile crocodiles are known to be deadly animals, but they also use their sharp teeth, powerful jaws, and killer instincts to protect their families.
Unlike most reptiles, after they lay their eggs and run away, both male and female Nile crocodiles are fiercely protective and caring for their future offspring. These fierce reptiles will even keep newborn crocodiles warm and protected in their mouths if they need to.
- Emperor penguins, sharing the care
After a female emperor penguin lays her egg, she leaves it to the male penguin to care for. The father sits down and keeps the chick warm while the mother makes the 50-mile trek to the ocean. This isn’t a beach vacation, though: the mother penguin is there to catch some fish, then makes the long trek back to her little family to feed her precious babies.
- Cuckoos show the need to know limits
Mother cuckoos seem to know all too well that they’re not up to the difficult task of raising a chick, so they secretly lay their eggs in the nests of other, often smaller, and arguably more trusting, birds.
The egg hatches, and the cuckoo throws the chicks and eggs away. Now the dove is alone in the nest, and all the food and attention from its foster parents goes to it until it learns to fly.
8. Seahorses, pregnancy is not just for women
In seahorses, giving birth is not gender-specific. The female seahorse lays her eggs in a special pouch of the male, then swims away. The male fertilizes the eggs and carries them for about 20 days until it is time to give birth, and releases hundreds of baby seahorses from the pouch.
- Gray wolf, caring for the cubs of the whole pack
Gray wolves usually bond for life, and both parents are dedicated to protecting and raising their cubs. Wolves often help each other care for the cubs, especially those of the leader.
The wolf family is a fairly classic family: the father wolf goes hunting, the mother wolf stays in the den with the cubs, takes care of them, feeds them and teaches them. When they grow up, the cubs start to forage with the pack. For about a year, they learn the wisdom of how to hunt, hierarchy, and proper behavior, after which they will either stay and become part of a group, or go on a separate journey.
- Giant Pacific Octopus: The Most Devout Mothers in the Animal Kingdom
Female Pacific octopuses live up to five years but mate only once for the rest of their lives. After fertilization, the male swims away and dies a few months later. The female, on the other hand, finds a hidden cave or crevice and lays up to 100,000 eggs there at a time.
The mother octopus will then spend six to ten months cleaning, guarding, and caring for her precious eggs. She won’t even come out to eat while caring for her offspring.
As a result, the mother octopus is almost always hungry, but still has to bring all the eggs from her shelter to the light, then, possibly die next to her eggs…