MOUNTAIN GORILLA LIFE HISTORIES, REPRODUCTIVE COMPETITION, AND SOCIOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR AND SOME IMPLICATIONS FOR CAPTIVE HUSBANDRY

New data on modal patterns of, and variability in, mountain gorilla life history tactics and sociosexual behavior, collected during long‐term fieldwork at the Karisoke Research Centre, are presented here. These data show that immature males and females develop sociosexual relationships with both peers and adults, and that these relationships—which contribute to more complex social relationships—often lead to mating between natal females and males who are “familiar” partners. They also show that within‐group reproductive competition between males can reach considerable levels, but that immature males are sometimes able to copulate with both nulliparous and parous females; that unrelated silverbacked males can reside in the same all‐male group but become intolerant of each other if females join the group; and that, whereas females sometimes compete with each other for opportunities of copulate, their probability of conceiving is probably not decreased by any inability to control the mating situation. This information may contribute to continued improvement in the husbandry of captive gorillas. Copyright © 1990 Wiley‐Liss, Inc., A Wiley Company