母亲节将至 盘点动物世界的伟大母亲

母亲节是人们感谢母亲的节日。人类对母亲怀有特殊的情感，因为母爱无私而伟大。可是你也许不了解，动物世界也有很多杰出和伟大的母亲。一起来盘点动物世界的伟大母亲。

1. Emperor Penguins 帝企鹅

Both Emperor moms and dads put in a lot of work when it comes to raising their young: After laying their eggs, Emperor moms immediately leave their mates to watch the eggs for up to nine weeks so they can hunt; it can take so long that sometimes they don’t return until after the chick has hatched. At that time, they take over the brooding, while their mates go out for food. Eventually, both parents will go out to hunt while the chick stays behind in a group of chicks called a crèche. Once the chicks are five months old, they’re on their own.

帝企鹅的父母在抚养幼崽方面都付出了很多努力：雌企鹅产下蛋后，会立即离开伴侣去狩猎，让雄企鹅看守蛋长达九周；有时时间会拖得很长，直到雏鸟孵化后她们才回来。那时，她们会接管孵化工作，而伴侣则外出觅食。最终，双亲都会外出狩猎，而雏鸟则留在被称为“托儿所”的幼鸟群体中。一旦雏鸟长到五个月大，它们就得自己照顾自己了。

2. Cheetahs 猎豹

Cheetahs typically have around three cubs in the wild (and sometimes as many as eight in captivity), and after they’re born, mom moves them frequently in an attempt to keep them safe. (Sadly, because she does have to leave to hunt, cub mortality is high.) Once the cubs reach eight weeks old, they’re capable of following mom themselves, and they move to a new spot every day. Mom will teach them how to hunt, and they’ll hone those skills playing with their siblings. The mother cheetah doesn’t leave her cubs until they’re around 18 months old.

猎豹在野外通常有大约三只幼崽（在圈养环境下有时多达八只），幼崽出生后，为了保护它们的安全，母猎豹会频繁地给它们挪窝。（遗憾的是，因为母猎豹不得不离开去狩猎，幼崽的死亡率很高。）一旦幼崽长到八周大，它们就能自己跟随母亲了，并且每天都会迁徙到新的地方。母亲会教小猎豹如何狩猎，而小猎豹们会在和兄弟姐妹打闹的过程中磨练这些技能。母猎豹直到幼崽大约18个月大时才会离开它们。

3. African Elephants 非洲象

Elephant moms are pregnant for a significant amount of time—22 months—and give birth to gigantic babies (elephant calves clock in around 200 pounds!). And that’s just the beginning of elephant parenting.

大象妈妈怀孕的时间相当长——22个月——并且生下巨大的宝宝（小象的体重大约在200磅左右！）。此时大象妈妈的养育职责才刚刚开始。

Baby elephants can’t see well at first, so they’re heavily reliant on their mothers and stick close to them for the first few months of their lives. Elephants form a matriarchal society where just about every female takes part in raising the little ones. Elephant babies rely on their mothers for support and nutrition for up to two years, during which they are also taught to forage, collect water, and protect themselves—but they continue to be reliant on their mothers for years.

小象一开始视力不好，所以它们非常依赖母亲，在生命的最初几个月里紧紧跟随母亲。象群是母系社会，几乎每头雌性大象都参与抚养幼崽。母亲会抚育和喂养小象长达两年，在此期间还会教小象如何觅食、吸水和保护自己——但此后多年小象仍然会继续依赖母亲。

4. Harp Seal 竖琴海豹

When it’s time for harp seals to give birth, they do so on the ice, in large groups. They find their own young by scent. The first 12 days of a harp seal pup’s life is spent feeding on their mom’s high-fat milk, during which time they’ll gain around 60 pounds. After that, the pups are on their own; they’ll stick around on the ice for another six weeks until they get so hungry they head to the water to hunt.

当竖琴海豹准备分娩时，它们会在冰上成群结队地进行。它们通过嗅觉找到自己的幼崽。竖琴海豹幼崽生命的最初12天是靠吃母亲的高脂奶水度过的，在这段时间里，它们会增重约60磅。之后，幼崽就得自己照顾自己了；它们会在冰上再待六周，直到饿得不行再下水狩猎。

5. Orangutan 猩猩

Orangutan moms stand out in the mothering world thanks to two major elements of their parenting that are not duplicated by other species. First, they either build a new nest or head to an older one every single night. Not impressed yet? Consider the second incredible trait of orangutan moms: Their babies hang off of them for years. Orangutan kids have the longest dependence period of any land-dwelling animal, and they will stay with their moms for up to seven years as mom teaches them how to find food and build nests. Females will come back to visit for much longer than that to learn mothering skills themselves.

猩猩妈妈在母亲界中独树一帜，因为它们有两大育儿特点是其他物种所没有的。首先，它们每晚都要挪窝，要么盖一个新窝，要么去一个之前的老窝。不觉得稀奇？那么来看看猩猩妈妈的第二个惊人特质：它们的宝宝会挂在它们身上多年。猩猩幼崽的依赖期是陆地动物中最长的，它们会和母亲一起生活长达七年，在这期间母亲教它们如何寻找食物和建造巢穴。雌猩猩长大离家后会回娘家待更长时间，向妈妈学习做母亲的技巧。

6. Wolf Spiders 狼蛛

While other spiders may leave their eggs on their webs while they go about their normal spider lives, wolf spiders take their egg sacs with them everywhere—and then take their young everywhere after they’ve hatched. Wolf spider moms attach their sacs to their bodies, later letting the baby spiders ride on their backs until they’re of age to hop off.

虽然其他蜘蛛可能会将产下的卵留在网上，然后继续正常生活，但狼蛛走到哪就会把自己的卵囊带到哪，待幼蛛孵化后，带着它们到处走。狼蛛妈妈将卵囊附着在身上，幼蛛孵化后则让幼蛛骑在自己的背上，直到它们长大了自己从背上跳下来。

7. Polar Bears 北极熊

After mating, polar bear moms need to pack on the pounds: If they don’t at least double their body weight (usually adding another 400 pounds), their bodies will reabsorb their fetuses. After all that eating, the hefty mamas then need to dig a den, lightly hibernate, and give birth. And while that part of the parenting process might sound easy, polar bear moms are then tasked with taking care of their little ones for about two years before it all starts again.

交配后，北极熊妈妈需要增加体重：如果它们不至少增加一倍的体重（通常再增加400磅），它们的身体会重新吸收它们的胎儿。在吃完一大堆食物后，这些体重增加的妈妈们接着需要挖一个洞穴，浅浅地休眠一段时间，然后分娩。尽管育儿过程的这一部分听起来很容易，但随后北极熊妈妈就要照顾小家伙大约两年，然后进行下一次交配和分娩。

8. Octopuses 章鱼

Octopuses only reproduce once in their lifetimes and some will lay up to 200,000 eggs. Moms will then protect the eggs for as long as necessary—scientists even observed one deep-sea octopus protecting her eggs for a record-breaking 53 months. During this time, the mother octopus doesn’t eat and ensures the eggs get a constant supply of oxygenated water. When the eggs hatch, she dies.

章鱼一生中只繁殖一次，有些章鱼一次就会产下多达20万个卵。然后，母章鱼会尽可能长时间地保护这些卵——科学家们甚至观察到一只深海章鱼保护她的卵长达创纪录的53个月。在这段时间里，母章鱼不吃东西，并确保她的卵获得持续供应的含氧水。当卵孵化时，她就会死去。

9. Koalas 树袋熊

Koalas chow down on poisonous eucalyptus leaves partly because their digestive tracts are filled with special microbes that can process the leaves—but they’re not born with it. Koalas work to build up their joeys’ tolerance by feeding them their poop—and not just any poop, but a “special unformed maternal faeces called pap.” The first scientist to observe the behavior recorded a koala baby eating a “yellowish-green slime” by “forcing its nose into the mother’s cloaca [and] energetically eating the substance from [her] rectum.” The parent “appeared uncomfortable” but “remained quiet” and didn’t attempt to stop the baby. (That said, not all scientists are convinced it’s to transfer bacteria; some suggest that it’s a type of supplemental protein for a weaning joey.)

树袋熊能吃有毒的桉树叶，一部分是因为它们的消化道里充满了可以分解桉树叶的特殊微生物，不过这些微生物不是与生俱来的。树袋熊通过给幼崽喂食自己的粪便来建立幼崽对桉树叶的耐受性。这不是普通的粪便，而是一种“特殊的未成型的半流质母体粪便”。第一位观察到这种行为的科学家记录了一只树袋熊幼崽通过“把它的鼻子塞进母亲的泄殖腔并精力充沛地从（她的）直肠”吃这种“黄绿色粘液”。树袋熊妈妈“看起来不舒服”，但仍“保持安静”，没有试图阻止幼崽。（话虽如此，并非所有科学家都认为这一行为是为了传递细菌免疫力；一些人认为这是给断奶期的幼崽补充蛋白质的一种方式。）

As if that wasn’t already some all-time mom material, koalas are also marsupials, meaning joeys have to finish development in their moms' pouches (before it’s time to get down to the poop-eating).

树袋熊妈妈的伟大之处还在于，她也是有袋动物，这意味着幼崽必须在母亲的育儿袋里完成发育（在开始吃粪便之前）。

10. Alligators 短吻鳄

Alligators may not look very cuddly, but they make excellent mothers. A gator mom kicks things into high gear by building a nest made out of rotting vegetation that self-heats.

短吻鳄看起来也许不是很可爱，但它们是出色的母亲。鳄鱼妈妈会用腐烂的植被建造一个可以自发热的巢穴，为孵化做好充分准备。

Internal temperature often determines the sex of the gator babies, so the nests have to be made with climate control. Nests that heat up to between 90 and 93 degrees Fahrenheit usually spawn boy gators, while much outside that range tends towards girls (though higher temperatures tend to be lethal). After the kids hatch, gator moms will gently carry their young in their giant mouths, taking them to the water to learn all the necessary gator stuff they have to know, with lessons often stretching out for a whole year.

巢穴的内部温度通常会决定鳄鱼宝宝的性别，所以巢穴必须控制好温度。温度在90到93华氏度之间的巢穴通常会产生雄性鳄鱼，而远远超出这个温度范围之外的则多产生雌性鳄鱼（尽管更高的温度往往是致命的）。幼崽孵化后，鳄鱼妈妈会用它们巨大的嘴巴温柔地衔着它们，带它们到水里学习所有必要的鳄鱼知识，课程通常持续一整年。

11. Great Hornbills 大犀鸟

Koalas aren’t the only animal moms that rely on poop for parenting—great hornbills also use it, but for a different reason. Hornbills lay their eggs in hollowed-out trees, with mama hornbills staying behind to protect the eggs while papa hornbills go out for food. Where does the poop come into play? The hornbills use it to seal up holes in their hollowed-out homes, the very same places where the mother hornbills spend their days.

树袋熊不是唯一靠粪便来育儿的动物妈妈——大犀鸟也用粪便，但原因不同。犀鸟在空心树干中产卵，母犀鸟留下来保护卵，而公犀鸟则外出觅食。粪便在哪里发挥作用呢？犀鸟会用粪便来封闭它们空心树窝的洞口，母犀鸟就在粪便下度日。