Mother-infant relationships among free-ranging rhesus monkeys on Cayo Santiago: A comparison with captive pairs

Abstract

The general course of mother-infant relationships among free-ranging rhesus monkeys ( Macaca mulatta) on Cayo Santiago is remarkably similar both qualitatively and quantitatively to that observed in the socially living captive colony at the MRC Unit at Madingley, England. Nevertheless, small but consistent differences appear to be due to differences between mothers in the two environments rather than differences between infants. Captive mothers may be described as more protective and less encouraging of early independence in their infants than free-ranging mothers. Moreover, captive pairs have become more like free-ranging pairs over the years, perhaps as captive mothers have been allowed to raise their infants in the presence of kin. A unitary concept of environmental complexity is not useful in accounting for the results.