What bird is the most caring mother. The best parents in the animal world

The best mothers in the animal kingdom have an incredible bond with their babies, so it’s impossible to say that such a characteristic is only suitable for people. We will talk about mothers who, without sparing themselves, take care of their offspring and do everything so that their cubs can survive in the harsh animal world.

elephants

In last place is the mother, who gives birth to the largest cubs, the average weight of these babies is 100 kilograms. Elephants deserve an award only because they manage to endure a pregnancy that lasts 22 months.

The baby elephant is blind at birth, and feel the world at first he can only with the help of his proboscis. Elephants are lucky that they exist in a matriarchal society in which the females are the head of the group. All females of the herd help the newborn baby. Aunts, sisters and grandmothers are directly involved in his upbringing. Such a large number of nannies provides the elephants with a quiet life in the wild world.

koalas

Koalas eat eucalyptus leaves, which are poisonous, but digestive system designed to withstand such dangerous food. This is due to the fact that the intestines of the koala are enveloped in special bacteria that can neutralize toxins. But koala babies do not have such abilities.

In order for babies to form the necessary microflora in the intestines, mothers feed them with their feces. The baby is in the koala's pouch for six months, where it feeds on milk. While the baby is in the bag, the mother does not waste time and sleeps off. She sleeps about 22 hours a day, that is, in a dream she sees about 90% of her life.

alligators

Sexual maturity in alligators occurs at about 3 years. The female lays her eggs in a pile of leaves, which are, in fact, humus. The leaves generate heat in the process of decay, and the female frees herself from incubating the eggs. The incubation period lasts 2 months. The temperature of the compost is quite high. At high temperature males appear, and at low - females.

When the cubs are born, the mother takes them in her jaws and guards them. During the first year of life in the water, the mother looks after the young alligators. After a year, they are already able to take care of themselves on their own.

White bears

The pregnant female must constantly forage for her own food, since she must double her weight, if this does not happen, then the fetus will be absorbed by her own body. During pregnancy and childbirth, the polar bear digs a lair in the snow and hibernates. At this time, she does not eat and may even oversleep the birth of cubs.

Newborn cubs have no teeth and their eyes are closed. Mother anxiously takes care of them for 2 years, until they reach puberty.

Cheetah

The female cheetah gives birth most often to 4-6 babies. Cheetah cubs do not have an innate survival instinct, so the mother must teach them how to behave in the right way. wild nature. She teaches them to hide from danger and hunt prey. As soon as the mother teaches the kids everything, she leaves them and becomes pregnant again. Males stay together all their lives, and females leave their brothers after 6 months and lead a solitary life.

Orangutans

The female orangutan is an animal with high intelligence. Her main task is motherhood. Every day she builds a new nest in the tree, which takes her about 5 minutes. She makes a nest from branches and leaves.

The female orangutan does not let go of her cub until he is 6-7 years old. This is the most long term caring for a baby among animals.

Sulawesian kalao

Such a rare name is given to birds from the island of Sulawesi. They make nests in tree cavities. The eggs of these birds are hunted by monitor lizards. So that the clutch is not ruined, the mother reduces the entrance to the nest. And she does it with her own feces. At the same time, the female does not leave the eggs for 2 incubation months, remaining immured inside. She has to be hungry. These are the sacrifices she is ready for for the sake of motherhood.

Sea Elephant

Female elephant seals are extremely responsible mothers. The elephant seal weighs 770 kilograms, and the males weigh about 4 times more. A pregnant female must gain a large amount of extra weight. The period of pregnancy for sea ​​elephant is 11 months. But after the birth of the baby, after a month of feeding the cub, she loses about 270 kilograms.

Octopus

Females are mother-heroines. They incubate over 50,000 eggs. Eggs develop over 40 days. All this time, the mother octopus does not leave the precious eggs for a second. It prevents predators from approaching the masonry and enriches it with oxygen, creating a flow of water through the so-called siphon.

While the female takes care of the eggs, she has no time to eat, so she starves until the babies hatch. Sadly, often such zeal leads to the death of the female.

giant isopod

On the first place of the list of the most caring mothers of the animal world was

The instinct of reproduction in nature usually works not too sophisticated. It usually comes down to the fact that the male is looking for a female, spinning and spinning in front of her, walking like a gogol, or breaking off the horns of evil adversaries (and part-time competitors), shaking the spectators with his power.

When the dear lady is sufficiently impressed by the exploits of his beloved, he quickly (or not very) impregnates her, after which, waving his hand (or another limb donated by evolution) in farewell, he leaves her, setting off in search of other pretty and beloved. After that, the male no longer remembers his former love, and the fate of the offspring does not bother him at all. However, this is not always the case. There are also exceptions, when males of some species become caring fathers and raise their descendants with enviable patience and diligence.

Some males even bear their offspring (“mother-fathers”). And in this article, we will present our readers with the ten most caring fathers of the animal world.

1 Large Water Beetle

It is this beetle that is the most caring, one might say an exemplary mother beetle. He bears his future offspring (so far in the form of testicles) on his back until they reach a certain degree of maturity. But contacting this male is not recommended. The fact that he is a father-mommy does not mean at all that he is an uncomplaining henpecked. This beetle is capable of biting very strongly and quite painfully.

The most caring animal is the swimming beetle (Dytiscus marginalis).

2 Seahorse

This representative of the aquatic fauna is even more versatile. He becomes pregnant and gives birth on his own. In the stomach of seahorses there is a special bag into which the female throws her eggs, fusing them, like a mother cuckoo, to an orphanage. The seahorse will hatch these eggs for about forty-five days. It should be noted that the number of eggs and, accordingly, embryos can reach a thousand, but can be limited to only two. Tellingly, he will give birth to them in much the same way as a human female does, that is, a woman - that is, with contractions. This is such a hard fate.

Unfortunately, at present, the number of these wonderful and unusual marine life is steadily declining due to human activities, expressed on the one hand in overfishing for gastronomic purposes and for the manufacture of souvenirs, and on the other hand due to pollution environment.

3. Pike fish

It cannot be said that this fish was one of the beautiful inhabitants expanses of water, but it is in this fish that the males are distinguished by an amazing nepotism. To provide his offspring with suitable conditions for growth, after the female has finished spawning, the male spreads out along the bottom, covering the eggs with his fins. At the same time, he will be in this position for a long time until the eggs ripen. Moreover, no one will risk approaching him when he is in this strange position, since everyone knows that he will not stand on ceremony and will not organize a warm welcome.

4. Toads and frogs

Everyone knows about frogs and toads, but few people know that the males of these two are so devoted to their offspring, perhaps the most known species amphibians. Separate types frogs are represented by such males that carry their tadpoles right in their mouths, which provides them with greater safety. Such miracle fathers refuse food, not accepting it until the tadpoles become capable of independent life. In addition, one of the types of toads - Pouched frog - has special pouches for carrying offspring.

5. Ikana ordinary

All the most important work in the Ikana family is not done by the mother, as happens with most animals, but by the father. He builds a nest and sits on the eggs and feeds the chicks. Females, on the contrary, lead a wandering, free lifestyle, flying from place to place and attracting numerous males, who, apparently, are only happy to become a “householder”. However, this is not yet the limit of the nepotism of the ikan. Ikana fathers with some experience in raising offspring often help their relatives, who do not yet have family experience, to take care of their children.

6. Arowana

Arowana fathers carry their offspring in their mouths. Many hundreds of fry of this species develop in their father's mouth, after which the father, with his mouth open, releases into the open ocean, now to learn life on his own. True, he does not yet give them complete freedom and constantly watches them, like a teacher from kindergarten. And if he notices an approaching danger, he immediately sucks all his cubs back into their house, that is, into his mouth.

7 Emperor Penguin

It's not easy for penguins. This is not surprising, given the harsh conditions in which these birds live. In penguins, the egg-laying female is extremely hungry for food, and cannot for a long time to incubate, therefore, immediately after laying an egg, he, in need of food, goes to a dangerous and long haul in the direction of the ocean, where he can eat plenty of fish and then, with renewed vigor, return to his cub and start feeding him. All this time, her partner stays in place, protecting the egg from fierce frosts and piercing Antarctic winds. To do this, he performs specific actions, which are most simply called "covering the egg with the hem of his fur coat." In this position, the male father spends almost the entire winter, does not eat anything and practically does not move.

If it happens that the father moves from his familiar place or in some other way makes a mistake that reduces the amount of heat needed by the egg, then the consequences will be sad, and the penguin will die without being born - right in the egg.

8. Nandu (or Rhea)

Rhea is one of those birds that cannot fly and is often called the American ostrich. In fact, she is a member of the nandu-like order, and, despite the really great resemblance to the ostrich, scientists still doubt that there is any kind of relationship between them. The distribution of family roles and responsibilities for them is approximately the same as for emperor penguin The female lays an egg and the male incubates it. In addition, the nandu father is engaged in building a nest and incubating offspring, which will continue for another six weeks.

But his family worries do not end there. The fact is that every Nandu father contains a whole harem, which he must take care of. This harem includes twelve females, who also lay eggs. As a result, it turns out that this bird "sultan" has to incubate about fifty eggs. After the chicks hatch from under the shell, the male also does not lose interest in them and continues to take care of the hatched offspring for about six months without receiving any help from their mothers. Moreover, the male may even attack the female, who dares to approach her chicks.

9. Wolf

The male wolf is a formidable animal and has a reputation to match. However, this formidable fighting machine is an exemplary husband and father. The wolf is a pronounced monogamist, and live with their offspring for almost their entire lives. It can be said that Wolf Pack is a kind of family that includes a mother wolf, a father wolf and their offspring. Of course, there are alien individuals and, so to speak, “younger families”, but the dominant family and its offspring are the core. After the she-wolf gives birth to puppies, she remains in her lair, and her wolf-husband brings the prey into the house as an exemplary head of the family and, moreover, makes sure that nothing threatens his family.

When the cubs grow up, their father will completely take over their upbringing. He will also be responsible for ensuring that there is real flock unity in the family.

10. Marmoset

Perhaps, marmosets are the cutest primates on Earth. Plus, they are very small. However, despite their more than modest size, male marmosets are more than serious about their functions as the head of the family. Together with their older brothers and other males of their tribe, the marmoset fathers raise their offspring by common efforts: they carry them on their backs, feed them and perform other functions, while the marmoset mother leaves her offspring after giving birth.

However, the family talents of the male marmoset are not limited to caring for offspring. In addition, he still carefully and skillfully takes delivery, processes the umbilical cord and cleans the newly-made mother after childbirth. It is very difficult for a tiny female marmoset to neigh due to the fact that a mature cub weighs about a quarter of her own. Fortunately, her husband knows how difficult and painful it is for his wife.

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Cats love everyone!

The most responsible mothers are representatives of the cat family. Their offspring will always be well-groomed, fed and cleanly washed. take care of their kittens for about three months. After this period, the kittens already become completely independent and they no longer need maternal care.

Tigers have a slightly longer life span. Tigresses nurse their cubs for two years. During this time, they fully teach their kids all the subtleties of obtaining food. Tiger cubs start eating meat from the age of two months, but they drink their mother's milk for about six months. A tiger dad usually does not participate in upbringing, and generally frankly idles - only the tigress gets food for him, for herself and for the kids.

It is interesting that the maternal instinct is so strongly developed in felines that they are able to go out and feed even those babies who represent other types of animals - puppies or piglets.

"Cold" parenting

In penguins, the process of rearing offspring is more rigorous. As soon as the female king penguin laid an egg, she immediately gives it to her father, and he hides his future heir in a special fold of skin. After making sure that the egg is completely under her father's supervision, the mother penguin turns around and, without looking back, rushes to the sea at full speed - to eat and rest. The promenade of the female lasts an unusually long time - two months. All this time, the males guarding the eggs are almost completely immobile, they do not eat anything and only press closer to each other so as not to freeze themselves and not to ruin the offspring.

Two months later, the females, having walked and overfed, return to the family, finding their husbands by the sounds made by those. Further, food and care for the offspring are already on equal rights. At the same time, the male and female feed only their own. If someone outsider tries to settle down in the family, he is immediately kicked out.

Gerald Durrell, in his book "The Land of Rustles", described the hardships that accompany a penguin who brings food to his children: that, having attacked an adult penguin, they can make him regurgitate food. Therefore, an adult bird now and then has to dodge the attacks of thick fluffy chicks, and it rushes on the run to the right, then to the left.

Even when the penguin reaches its nest, it is still relentlessly pursued by two or three alien chicks, full of firm determination to force it to part with the prey. Feeling at home, the penguin finally loses patience, turns his chest to his pursuers and begins to punish them in the most cruel way. He beats the chicks with his beak so violently that their fluff flies over the colony.

These penguins are selfish compared to cats. They feed only their own children, so you can’t give them piglets or puppies - they will kick them out.

The most caring mothers

Elephants bear their cubs for a very long time - one year and ten months. But even after the birth, the elephant does not leave the baby alone for a moment. And, unlike the hard-hearted penguins towards other people's children, every elephant, and not only the elephant, but also her brothers and sisters consider it their sacred duty to look after, feed and take care of the baby elephant in every possible way, even if he is not their relative if, let's say it own mother, in this moment, is missing for some reason.

It's hard to believe, but one of the most caring parents are alligators. To begin with, the female builds a nest on her own, and the nests for boys and girls are different. But what gender her kids will be - the alligator decides in advance herself. She has for this special mechanism. If the eggs are formed at a temperature above 34 degrees Celsius, then males come out of them, and if the temperature is 30 degrees, then females are obtained.

When the eggs are already in the nest, the mother carefully monitors the temperature and humidity around them and viciously drives away all the curious, even if they, the curious, do not pose any obvious danger.

When the crocodiles are born, the mother carries them in her mouth into the water and monitors their development for another year.

But if you watch the female orangutans, you can come to the conclusion that they fundamentally do not want to part with their offspring. Perhaps this is due to the fact that a female orangutan can become pregnant only once in eight years. After the birth of the heir, the mother cherishes and cherishes him for another five years in a row, not parting with him literally for a minute. So orangutans relatively late begin an independent life.

Frog-"cannibal"

When scientists got acquainted with the relationship of this frog to their descendants, they were at first horrified.

But soon a superficial acquaintance turned into a deeper one, after which it was the other way around - this frog caused such positive emotions zoologists that they quite officially called her "caring." The fact is that a caring mother frog, immediately after spawning, immediately ... swallows it.

But there is no smell of cannibalism here. On the contrary, for about a month and a half, the frog's stomach ceases to secrete gastric juice, she herself does not eat anything, and her whole body turns into an incubator, where frog babies grow.

Six weeks later, they are born again directly from the mouth of their caring mother, alive, healthy and ready for independent life.

Many people are afraid of wild animals. Not all animals are capable of harming humans. Even seasoned predators try to avoid meeting people. Usually animals show aggression when they need to protect their offspring or territory. Some living creatures amaze with their friendliness and complaisant nature. Such animals will not baselessly attack a person, trying to harm him or kill him. What are the friendliest animals on the planet?

capybara

It's funny on appearance the mammal lives in the water bodies of the Central and South America. The capybara is considered the friendliest animal in the world. The body length of the animal reaches 1.35 meters. An adult weighs about 60 kilograms. These representatives of the pig family swim perfectly in the water. They use their webbed feet to swim. Capybaras eat grass aquatic plants, fruits and tubers. They are social animals. As a rule, in a group there are from 10 to 30 individuals that interact well with each other. Females take care of babies and protect them from jaguars, crocodiles, anacondas or wild dogs.

Dog

This fairly common pet is becoming best friend and companion for a large number of people. Dogs understand human feelings and emotions better than other animals. They are considered friendly and very loyal. The dog can be easily taught commands. These intelligent quadrupeds are used in various fields human activity. For example, they are used in rescue work or for the rehabilitation of disabled people. Dogs have an excellent charm, thanks to which they track down prey. All dogs have extraordinary intelligence. That's why people turn them on.

Dolphin

Cat

It is believed that these predatory mammals were domesticated by humans over 4,000 years ago. There are many breeds of cats that differ in size, color and habits. Domestic cats love to play with their owners. Despite the difficult nature, they do not miss the moment to express their satisfaction to people. Calm and playful cats prefer to relax, finding a warm and cozy place. If cats do not like something, then they use sharp teeth and claws.

Giant panda

This sweet and good-natured animal can be found in the mountains of Central China. Their fur is dyed black and white. The weight of an adult individual can reach 160 kilograms. These representatives of the bear family feed on bamboo. They also eat small birds, insects and eggs. AT hibernation the animal does not fall. Unfortunately, giant panda is under threat of extinction. The Chinese government carefully guards this amazing beast.

Rabbit

Cute and harmless rabbits can live in fields, forests or in deserts. A person uses them both as pets and for meat and skins. Rabbits live in groups. Their cubs are born blind and devoid of fur. These representatives of the hare family have powerful hind limbs, long ears and short tail. They mainly eat grass. Rabbits need constant care. Caring for them, the rabbit breeder gets a lot of positive and pleasure.

Guinea pig

Horse

This peaceful and noble animal is valued by people for its diligence. There are about 300 breeds of horses. They are widely used in agriculture. Horses often take part in races and equestrian competitions. Highly bred horses can cost more than elite sports cars. The horse is a social animal, so these odd-toed ungulates should not be left alone. They can easily recognize human faces and emotions.

Swan

This graceful bird personifies beauty and romance. Swans never leave their partner and remain devoted to him. They feed mainly on aquatic plants, small algae and mollusks. These representatives of the duck family show aggression only if it is necessary to protect the chicks or a partner. They are very friendly by nature.

Sheep

This artiodactyl mammal is known for its calm, non-aggressive nature. Sheep are bred for meat and wool. Most of them are bred in China, Australia and India. Currently, there are about 200 breeds of sheep. These representatives of the bovid family quickly get used to people. Newborn lambs symbolize tenderness, innocence and meekness.

Often people should learn to care from our smaller brothers. Animals protect their children, give them love and affection. Let's look at those animals who do this all the time.

Elephant mothers, for example, adopt someone else's child if they see that his mother is not taking good care of him. All elephants do this, and it deserves respect.

Lions never leave children when they walk in the first days of life.

When it is hot outside, the hippopotamus begins to secrete special protective milk for the child, which has other properties and has a reddish color.

Squirrels are born small and hairless, so the squirrel creates a "fur coat" of moss for them during his absence.

And armadillos can generally “stop” pregnancy for up to 2 years! This happens if the conditions are not favorable for childbirth and upbringing. In addition, armadillos give birth to children of only one sex. If the female began to give birth to sons, so she will give birth to them until her death.

Otter babies are born blind. At first, while they are unable to take care of themselves, she catches them a fish, feeds them with milk and takes care of them in every possible way.

Giraffe babies are record holders in terms of rapid growth. An hour after birth, the giraffe can already walk, and after 6 hours, it feeds on grass itself and runs around the meadow.

Female crocodiles can carry their children in their mouths or on their heads so that fathers do not eat them in a fit of hunger.

Swans create a "house" for small children, in which the kids ride with their mother.
In a fox family, the male fox always helps to raise small children. He gets food, and the fox sits with the newborns.