New Delhi: Like humans, many animals prefer to stay in the comfort of their homes and the loving arms of their parents for a long time after birth. While some spend their entire lives with their parents, first being looked after by them and then looking after them, others leave after a few years, just like we left for college.
Animal societies are complexly structured, and several species’ lives and parental habits within the same genus differ significantly. While some animals, like elephants and killer whales, spend their lives with their families and groups, others, like snake and harp seal mothers, abandon their young shortly after giving birth. Let us learn about some animal species that stay with their parents the longest.
List of 9 animals that spend the maximum amount of time with their parents
African Elephants
African Lions
Orcas
Orangutans
Polar bears
Alligators
Chimpanzees
Dolphins
Grey kangaroo
African Elephants
With an average lifespan of 60 -70 years, female elephant calves stay with their mothers for their entire lives, while males leave the herd between the ages of 9 and 18. African elephants also have the longest gestation period of any mammal, remaining pregnant for almost two years.
African Lions
Female African lions live 15 -16 years in the wild. With a gestation period of about 3.5 months, lionesses look after their cubs for longer than a year, teaching them to fend for themselves. Female lions are a pillar of stability in their pride, staying with all the other females, while male lions spend only a few years in one pride until they join another or are driven off by a competitor.
Orcas
Living in close-knit family groups called pods, orcas or killer whales have a gestation period of about 1.5 years. Female orcas stay with their mothers for their entire lives, while male orcas only leave to mate for short periods. Killer whales can live up to 90 years.
Orangutans
Orangutans live up to 40 years and must wait seven to eight years between births. The mother nursed offspring until they were six years old, and female orangutans are known to return to their mothers every once in a while until they turn 15 or 16.
Polar Bears
Usually born twins, the cubs never leave their mother’s side until about 2.5 years. Living up to 25 -30 years in the wild, polar bears are pregnant for nine months, and after birth, the mother teaches her cubs to hunt and get acclimatised to the sub-zero arctic temperatures.
Alligators
With a lifespan between 30 and 50 years, baby alligators stay with their mother for about two years. It is over three months after the alligator eggs hatch that the fiercely protective mother carries each egg from the riverbank to the water to protect her children from predators.
Chimpanzees
Chimpanzees have a gestation period of about eight months, and baby chimps stay with their mothers, riding on their backs for up to 4 years. They even love and care for their mothers after they become adults. In the wild, chimpanzees have an average lifespan of 40 years.
Dolphins
With a life expectancy of up to 60 years, dolphin calves remain with their mothers for the first 3 -6 years. The average dolphin species stays pregnant for about one year, cementing the mother-calf bond even before birth.
Grey Kangaroo
Grey Kangaroos live up to 18 years in the wild and have a gestation period of a mere 30 days. Joeys live in their mother’s pouch for nine months and, even after outgrowing the pouch, remain with their mother for a year until they become self-dependent.
Often, baby animals like to linger around their parents and would rather stay at home comfortably for a long time than venture out on their own. Read on to find out which animals stick around their parents for the longest time. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
