A friend of mine is adopting children and this question came to me. I was wondering if there were any examples of animals which adopt children of their own species (but not a blood relative.) For example, I heard of wolves that adopt dog puppies, but would it adopt another wolf pup?
2006-08-06 07:18:02 · 27 answers · asked by ♪ ♫ ☮ NYbron ☮ ♪ ♫ 6 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
No we are not the only ones. Many animals will. Apes often do, but so will dogs, and other mammals. Birds soemtimes will too. Maternal (and paternal) instincts are strong towards babies within a species, but sometimes they will go beyond those boundaries too.
2006-08-06 07:23:02 · answer #1 · answered by Loulabelle 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It happens more than you think. It happens in primates, and in other species as well.
I can't think of any non-mammal species where it has happened. This question is more a matter of your acculturation than anything. You're thinking America, with the nuclear family, not an extended family. That's pretty unnatural. Imagine a close, matriarchal, extended family like what you commonly find in a rural Mexican area. If the parents died, the uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. would take on the child as extended family. That's the natural order of things, and species that operate in intelligent family groups do the same thing. The extended family fills in the gap and take on the role of parents. Babboons don't use adoption agencies.
2006-08-06 07:25:21 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Elephants will adopt orphans, and cats. I have seen a dog adopt a kitten, and in one zoo a wild pig and a pygmy hippo became best friends. The instinct to protect the young is very strong, and the cues that set it off are similar between many species. Young children have survived in woods, and must have been protected by animals.
2006-08-06 07:27:18 · answer #3 · answered by helixburger 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No species is a good pet. I can tell you some terrible stories of monkey pets and owners turned bad. One here locally that I recall is of a lady who owned 2 spider monkies. They were very attention seeking and like her own children. They slept with her in bed too. After she got bitten by one or both of them once too often she didn't even think of a sanctuary, she just got them put to sleep. If you want the experience of working with a child, volunteer somewhere like a hospital or daycare or at a school. Most places want volunteers to be screened and have a crimminal background check these days but that is nothing, to do something you might love or dislike later.
2016-03-27 01:12:42 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Domestic animals have been known to 'adopt' 'children' from a species other that their own. I think that the Great Apes (Gorillas, Orangutans, Chimpanzees & Bilbobo) also 'adopt' across species lines, but I'm not 100% sure.
2006-08-06 07:26:34 · answer #5 · answered by Wizard of Oz 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Other animals do adopt.
Often lions accept cubs into their pride, wolves accept pups into the pack as do other animals. This happens when a mother loses one or more of her own offspring and her maternal instinct drives her to care for another orphaned baby.
2006-08-06 07:23:39 · answer #6 · answered by Ginbail © 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Our cats nurse each others kittens. One had four and lost all of them she has taken over a couple kittens of the five that another had. I don't know if that qualifies as adoption as the two are 2nd or 3rd cousins, both are still living, and the second one was a little distressed initially.
2006-08-06 09:30:45 · answer #7 · answered by corvis_9 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There have been several examples of animals taking in (even different species) young, not of their own... even ferrel humans have been discovered to have been raised by other animals... yep, the stories are for real; as to their validity, who knows! I remember hearing about instances of feral humans found and taken into captivity, in an effort to help or rehabilitate them... none have survived a very long life... that was in psychology class, in my college years.
2006-08-06 07:31:28 · answer #8 · answered by Mark MacIver 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Haven't you ever seen all those "cute" stories on the news where someones pet cat if nursing puppies?Recently there was one about a dog that was nursing an injured squirrel.
No one really knows why,but it does happen in the wild.Must be the motherhood instinct.
2006-08-06 07:23:28 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I used toi work as jockey in the U.K...after a bad accident I changed jobs and worked on a thoroughbred breeding farm..On several occasions On three occasions I have seen mares who have lost their foals..(stillborn for example), and foals who's mothers had died giving birth, placed together to form a successful adoption
2006-08-06 07:26:11 · answer #10 · answered by murphy51024 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋