Lead
In 2021, at a zoo in Nagasaki, Japan, a white-handed gibbon named MOMO was examined by keepers who found that the monkey was pregnant with a baby monkey, but the keepers did not see MOMO mating with other male apes.
This matter was discussed by many netizens on the Internet, curious about how MOMO got pregnant without seeing the male partner, so they pointed the object of suspicion to the keepers, whether they did not take good care of the animal and let it mate with other animals after letting it go, which is a very shameful thing for the zoo that attaches great importance to the image, and the keepers are also very nervous after hearing it.
So, they decided to investigate MOMO and the newborn baby monkey, but the results surprised everyone.
After the breeders investigated, what really happened, and why did MOMO get pregnant without a male partner?
MOMO became pregnant in 2021.
This happened on September 3, 2021, and MOMO, a white-handed gibbon living in the Nagasaki Peace Zoo, came to live here from another zoo in 2012.
Since coming here, the keepers of MOMO have observed many novel behaviors on it, which it has never done before, which attracted the attention of the keepers and began to focus on the observation of MOMO.
In June 2021, the keepers noticed that MOMO's belly seemed to be enlarged, and it became very strange that MOMO had never mated with a male white-handed gibbon.
IN THE DAYS THAT FOLLOWED, MOMO'S BELLY BECAME BIGGER AND BIGGER, AND THE KEEPERS COULD ALMOST SEE THE HANDS AND FEET OF THE BABY MONKEY DIRECTLY FROM MOMO'S BELLY, AND IN SEPTEMBER, MOMO FINALLY GAVE BIRTH TO A BABY MONKEY.
The keepers still haven't been able to see MOMO mating with a male gibbon, but the video surveillance clearly records the whole process from MOMO's pregnancy to the birth of the baby monkey.
In the past two or three months, MOMO has been living in the field of vision of the breeders, and the surveillance has been recording all the behaviors of MOMO, and the keepers have not seen any trace of MOMO mating with male gibbons, but this does not mean that MOMO has not mated.
After the keepers checked the surveillance, they found a very bizarre phenomenon, that is, there was indeed no male partner in the cage of MOMO during pregnancy, but there was a male white-handed gibbon in the cage next to it, but this male white-handed gibbon and MOMO are not the same species.
This is a large ape known as an orangutan, and although it has many similarities with MOMO's white-handed gibbon, there are many differences between them.
As a result, the male orangutan became the subject of an investigation by the keepers, who began to conduct DNA tests on the male orangutan to confirm whether it was the father of the baby monkey.
After some testing, the surprising results revealed that the male orangutan was indeed the father of the baby monkey!
This made the keepers puzzled, could it be that this male orangutan had really mated with MOMO?
The reluctant keepers conducted another investigation into the lives of MOMO and the male orangutans, but the results made everyone sad, angry and funny.
It turned out that the male orangutan and MOMO were separated by a transparent glass wall, and although their cages were not the same, their cages were like two adjacent rooms, and the male orangutans and MOMO were not completely separated.
The keepers finally understood the reason why MOMO was pregnant, and it turned out that the glass wall between him and the male orangutans was so thin that their mating behavior was so unobtrusive that the keepers did not even notice that they were actually mating all the time.
Male orangutans and male gibbons are genetically very similar, and it is natural for MOMO to become pregnant after mating with a male orangutan, and the father of the baby monkey is the male orangutan.
Fortunately, this incident happened in a zoo, no one would carry this black cauldron, and the keepers also felt afraid for a while after knowing the truth of the matter, and were glad that they did not let the zoo carry the black cauldron, and this incident also spread on the Internet.
Zoos impose restrictions on animals.
The reason why this incident has attracted widespread attention and discussion, in addition to the fact that this incident is very bizarre, is also because of the zoo's approach.
In the zoo, the life of the animals can be seen by people, and the zoo will definitely attach great importance to the image, so as to attract more people to visit and earn more money.
However, zoos have particularly strict requirements for the lives of animals, including restrictions on animal mating, except for zoos that want animals to mate and reproduce offspring.
Zoos restrict animal mating not because there are too many animals in zoos, but because zoos need to control the mating of animals and have offspring.
This is because when animals live in the wild, the annual breeding season is the most vulnerable time for the animals and vulnerable to predators, so they will increase their breeding cycle to 2 or even 3 years, so that the animals can have offspring more safely.
However, in zoos, the living environment of the animals is completely controlled, and it is difficult for predators to find their traces, so the zoo will reduce the breeding cycle of the animals.
But the problem arises that as the animals reproduce more frequently, their populations will gradually increase, which can lead to an uncontrolled zoo animal population.
Therefore, in order to avoid the situation of uncontrolled animal populations, many zoo managers choose to isolate the animals, isolate the animals and prevent them from mating and reproducing offspring, but this will not satisfy the animals' instincts.
This is the reason why MOMO and male orangutans mate, the keepers do not let the animals mate, the animals will look for other alternative ways to mate, and the glass separation between MOMO and the male orangutans is too thin to prevent it, but let it be known.
Public questioning of animal husbandry.
After the keepers investigated the incident, the public questioned the management of the zoo's interior, and the keepers imposed restrictions on the animals by isolating the animals and preventing them from mating and reproducing offspring.
Many people think that this is disrespectful to animals, that animals have their own instincts, and that they should not be forced to give up their instincts, because if they are forced to do so, their way of life will only become more secretive.
And the keepers are so weak that it can lead to mating between animals, and even if the zoo does a good job of isolating the animals, the animals will have other alternatives.
Therefore, it is believed that it is very disadvantageous to prevent animals from mating with each other, and that animals know how to protect themselves more than humans, so the restrictions imposed on animals by zoos are superfluous, and people think that zoos should allow animals to be more free.
However, zoos don't see it that way, and most zoos don't allow animals to breed in their parks, except for some that want to make a profit by watching animals mate with each other.
Zoo managers are not willing to allow animals to breed because they want to observe the mating behavior of animals, but because it will have a great impact on the image of the zoo.
The idea of selling animals in zoos by breeding offspring is not allowed in many zoos, and zoos have clear restrictions on the breeding behavior of animals, which is detrimental to the image of zoos.
Moreover, the zoo is also worried that the number of animals that breed offspring will gradually increase, and the breeding behavior will get out of control, which will bring a lot of trouble to the zoo, and may even cause losses to the zoo.
Therefore, zoos restrict the breeding behavior of animals out of consideration for the interests and image of the zoo, but this is contrary to the instinct of animals.
Zoos impose restrictions on the reproductive behavior of animals, and there is constant conflict between the reproductive behavior of animals.
epilogue
The reproductive behavior of animals in zoos is a very delicate thing, which happens instinctively of animals, but humans have to intervene and even impose restrictions on animals.
Although the zoo management has many difficulties, we cannot deny that this matter is unkind, so the zoo should still be based on respect for animals, so that the animals can be better raised and managed.