As toddlers, chimps are major risk takers

Toddlers are the daredevils of the chimp world.

Those 2 to 5 years old are more likely than older chimps to free-fall from treetops or leap wildly from branch to branch. Past age 5, such dangerous behaviors decrease by about 3 percent each year.

Researchers shared these new observations in January in iScience. 

Among humans, teens are the real daredevils. Compared to younger children, for instance, they’re more likely to break bones or die from injuries. Kids might want to behave as recklessly as chimp toddlers but rarely get the chance. Parents and caregivers are likely to put a stop to such fun — and the risk of broken bones — among human toddlers.

“If humans scaled back their oversight, our kids would be way more daredevilish,” says biologist Lauren Sarringhaus. An author of the new study, she works at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va.

No monkeying around

Human and chimp caregivers show different patterns. Chimp moms largely parent alone. Dads don’t help. Nor, typically, do grandmothers, older siblings or other group members. Youngsters cling to their moms for the first five years of life. But by age 2 or so, young chimps begin to explore some on their own. Moms can’t readily help kids swinging high up in the air.

Human children, by comparison, have caregivers beyond their parents. Called alloparents, these include teachers and coaches at supervised after-school activities. As such, today’s kids spend less time unsupervised and playing outside than those in generations past. Some human-development experts criticize the rise of this type of intensive, or helicopter, parenting.

The new data point to “really exciting” research on “how caregiving influences risk-taking behavior. There’s not a lot of research out there addressing this point,” says Lou Haux. She’s a psychologist who studies primate behavior. Haux, who did not take part in the new study, works at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. That’s in Berlin, Germany.

Risky moves

Sarringhaus and her team studied more than 100 chimps. Part of the Ngogo Chimpanzee Project in Uganda’s Kibale National Park, they ranged in age from 2 to 65. The researchers observed the apes swinging through the tree canopy. Along the way, they measured how often each member lost contact with tree branches. That included falling to a lower branch or leaping across a gap to another branch.

Chimps 2 to 5 years old were three times more likely than adults (15 and older) to take risks. “Teens” — aged 10 to 14 — were no chumps either. These chimps still engaged in such behaviors twice as often as adults.

Risky maneuvers in tall trees come with a tradeoff, though. Roughly a third of chimpanzees show signs of past bone breaks, other research shows. But toddlerhood may be an ideal time for dangerous exploration.

Smaller chimps — and humans — have flexible bones and are relatively lighter weight than bigger ones. That’s why they are less likely than adults to suffer grave injuries from falls.

But, Sarringhaus says, “my goal is not for this to lead to parenting advice.”

Instead, Haux adds, this sort of research helps put human parenting in broader perspective, such as: “How did all this evolve?”