Father’s Day
Good Dads Are Across Species
Father’s Day is a day to honor dads — human dads, that is. But there are dads of other species who deserve credit too.
In our household, Alfie the Great helped rear kittens Bear, Popsicle, Ms. Z and Count Catcula. Alfie protected the kittens, and as they followed him around in the course of his daily routine, they learned the ropes.
In the BBC show, “Gorilla Family and Me,” tender moments were captured on video in 2015 of a male silverback Grauer’s Gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) with his young son whose mother had died. Female gorillas don’t adopt orphans, and this was, at the time, the only known example of a male Grauer’s gorilla rearing his offspring. The multi-year task includes grooming and letting the youth shadow dad to learn how to feed himself and to understand the ways of the rainforest in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
For other species, male parenting is not the exception, but the norm. The male Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) shares parenting duties, including incubating and hunting to feed hungry mouths of, on average, one to five offspring. Since owlets need mom to keep them warm for the first weeks of their lives, dad has to feed himself, the young ones and mom, who is larger than dad by about 25 percent. He also has to provide security.
The male Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) assumes a mighty duty caring for the egg that the female lays in the cold and dark Antarctica climes. Colonies of males huddle together for warmth and protect the eggs until they hatch, and then they care for the chicks when they first hatch.
Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) dads nest together, protecting their nests and chicks from predators, including other flamingos. Both male and females produce “crop milk” to feed their chicks.
Male Bat-Eared Foxes (Otocyon megalotis) are committed to raising their offspring, investing much of their time rearing them. While mom looks for food, the males tend to the young ones. Interesting side note: These foxes are significant contributors to keeping the termite population under control. One bat-eared fox can consume some 1.15 million termites annually.
“Wolves are playful, protective dads,” writes the Savvy Dad. “They’re also loyal, loving partners.” The Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) protects his offspring, hunts for the family — providing for mom for the first few months after she’s given birth — and teaches his pups how to become part of the pack.
A native of Brazil, the Common Marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) lives in close family groups. Marmoset dads help during the birthing process, clean up the afterbirth, and feed and carry the young ones.
A typical Golden Lion Tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia) dad feeds, grooms and engages in play time with his kids. Dad carries young ones on his back starting at about age two weeks, only handing off to mom for nursing every two to three hours for about 15 minutes. The babies ride with pops until they are six or seven weeks old. Dad also peels and mashes bananas to hand-feed his babies.
The Rhea (Rhea americana), a flightless bird, leaves the egg tending to the males. The females mate, deposit an egg and move on to the next male, leaving each male to attend to the egg, maintain the nest, manage incubation and provide egg security.
In the lemur world, which has about 100 species within it, females are dominant. But according to a study from the University of Arizona’s School of Anthropology, the male Lemur (Lemuroidea) averages as much time with his babies as a human dad in the U.S. does. Stacey Tecot’s research indicates “that male lemurs generally have about 27 percent as much contact as females with their offspring, while human dads, on average, have 25 to 35 percent as much contact with their infants as mothers do.” Males have been seen caring for their offspring among the eastern lesser bamboo lemur, the fat-tailed dwarf lemur, mongoose lemur, red-bellied lemur, ruffed lemurs and the silky sifaka.
Now back to the human dads who we honor this Sunday. Thanks for all you do to raise kids right! And that includes teaching them the value of the planet’s wonderful wildlife! Happy Father’s Day, Dads!
