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Newborn chimpanzee baby11/3/2023 ![]() But does it? Once we start looking at the different ways in which human caregivers and infants around the world interact, this tension between being the same and being different comes to light again. So the observer might then conclude that the comparison with humans ends. However, it’s not all so humanlike: you will also see chimpanzee mothers not share food with their infants – in fact, they might even steal food from their infants. ![]() Anyone who has seen an ape care for her infant – the gentle way that mothers cradle their newborn – can recognise the shared experience with humans. I came to understand the radical influence of these presuppositions and values when watching how mother chimpanzees interacted with their offspring. These presuppositions and values can play an even bigger role by influencing how we observe, how we understand our observations, and our own role in how these observations are conducted. ![]() All these contrasting presuppositions influence the way that we describe the behaviour of a species. Those who are interested in understanding behaviour in terms of cooperation will focus instead on cooperative behaviours in females, since it better fits that model. For example, if a primatologist is interested in understanding behaviour in terms of individual strategies of investment in time and energy, they will focus on observing behaviours such as male hunting and aggression that fit this background model. The interests of researchers vary and, as a result, the background assumptions brought to any research design will vary, too. The role of these presuppositions affects how researchers choose and design their observational methodologies. Presuppositions play an important role in the way we observe animal behaviour. It allowed me to examine the preconceptions I brought into the field, and provided me with new insights into the social behaviour of chimpanzees. The experience of entwining my life into theirs changed the way I observed them. Being part of this group allowed me to share their everyday life by making it my own everyday life. But there I was.įor the purpose of my fieldwork, I observed six adolescent chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) and their families for four months in the Kasekela chimpanzee community at Gombe National Park in Tanzania. As a philosopher, I never thought that my work would lead me to watch a group of chimpanzees lazily stretching their arms out of their nests as the first rays of sunlight came through the forest, that I would walk miles with them in search of food, that I would have to wait with them, miserable and wet, under a tree for the rain to stop. Several years ago, I had a unique opportunity to observe and live with a group of chimpanzees, studying the mysterious relationship between chimpanzee mothers and their infants. A philosopher observes chimpanzee mothers and their infants interact, realising how cultural our ideals of motherhood are
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