Bitch: On the Female of the Species

by Lucy Cooke

‘The goal of successful parental care is that kids can be independent,’ Altmann told me. ‘A mother who’s not too protective has an infant who explores and develops their social world safely, but independently.’ Low-ranking females are put upon by just about everybody. Without the social standing to protect them and their baby, they compensate with what Altmann describes as ‘restrictive’ parenting, keeping their infant constantly within arm’s length. Restrictive mothering probably results in a better initial survival rate, as the infants are safer from predation and disease in the first few weeks. But they develop independence more slowly and place more demand on the mother’s critical resources, pushing her closer to that energetic cliff edge, and death.