by Elizabeth Vinson Lonsdorf:
Patti is a very different kind of
mother than the rest of the females I study. She seems to
be a bit annoyed by the burden of childrearing and is not
very attentive to her offspring. Because of this, her
children grow up to be very tough and independent. She
seems to only be able to pay attention to one child at a
time. I remember following her one day shortly after her
current baby, Tarzan, was born. Her older son, Titan, had
gotten separated from the group and was whimpering, trying
to find his mother again. Most mothers respond to a whimper
with their own call and the family reunites. However, Patti
ignored Titan's cries until they had escalated into full,
panicky screams. She let him scream for about 10 minutes
until finally calling, causing Titan to come charging down
the hill to meet back up with his mother. Patti does have a
sweet side, however. I was following her one day way up
high in Gombe and she came to an overlook perched out over
the valley. She sat down to look out, and as Titan came up
to sit down beside her, she pulled him close, and mother and
son spent several minutes looking out over Gombe together
before moving on.
by Joann Schumacher-Stankey:
Patti was not born in Gombe's main community, but joined
the group as an adolescent in 1973. Even though she was an outsider,
she was quite assertive from the beginning and is to this day.
Patti is usually found traveling alone with her offspring, rather
than with other mothers or group members.
She didn't have the best luck as a mother at first, because
she seemed not to know what to do with her babies. As a result,
her first infant died shortly after birth. Her second son survived
a rather rough childhood, but then died as a juvenile. However,
she now has three surviving offspring, a daughter and two sons,
and has recently become a grandmother. Her daughter, Tanga,
lives in the main community and is a first time mother herself.
Her son Titan is eleven years old and has grown into quite a
dominant, aggressive young chimp. Tarzan is now almost six years
old.
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