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Orangutans are exceptionally good at keeping their infants alive

By Michael Marshall

30 October 2018

Orangutan mother and infant

An astonishingly good聽parent

Pedro Narra/Naturepl.com

Orangutans have staggeringly low rates of infant mortality. They are better at keeping their offspring alive than people in most human societies throughout history.

鈥淲e see this incredibly high survival that鈥檚 higher than any [non-human] mammal that we know of so far,鈥 says Maria van Noordwijk at the University of Z眉rich in Switzerland.

The high survival rate is linked to orangutans鈥 lifestyle, which is more solitary than other apes. But it also puts them at risk, because it is tied to their low birth rate 鈥 meaning they would struggle to recover…

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