The dominant male of a gorilla social group supporting a young member. Image credit: Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (CC BY 4.0)
Most mammals depend entirely upon their mothers when they are born. In these species, losing a mother at a young age has dramatic consequences for survival. In cases where orphaned individuals do reach adulthood, they often suffer negative effects, like reduced reproductive success or lower social status. But this is not the case for humans. If a child loses their mother, relatives, friends and the wider community can take over. This does not tend to happen in nature. Even our closest relatives, chimpanzees, are much less likely to survive if their mothers die before they reach adolescence.
Although orphan survival is not the norm for mammals, humans may not be entirely unique. Mountain gorillas also live in stable family groups, usually with a dominant male and one or more females who care for their offspring for between 8 and 15 years. It is possible that gorillas may also be able to provide community support to orphans, which could buffer the costs of losing a mother, just as it does in humans.
To answer this question, Morrison et al. examined 53 years of data collected by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund to assess the effects of maternal loss in mountain gorillas. The analysis examined survival, reproduction and changes in social relationships. This revealed that, like humans, young gorillas that lose their mothers are not at a greater risk of dying. There is also no clear long-term effect on their ability to reproduce. In fact, gorillas who lost their mothers ended up with stronger social relationships, especially with the dominant male of the group and young gorillas around the same age. It seems that gorilla social groups, like human families, provide support to young group members that lose their mothers.
These findings suggest that the human ability to care for others in times of need may not be unique. It is possible that the tendency to care for orphaned young has its origins in our evolutionary past. Understanding this in more depth could provide clues into the social mechanisms that help to overcome early life adversity, and have a positive impact on future health and survival.
