CATARRHINE JUVENILE MORTALITY IN CAPTIVITY, UNDER SEMINATURAL CONDITIONS, AND IN THE WILD

Juvenile mortality is an important problem in the development of capti ve populations. I compiled data from published literature on abortion, premature mortality stillbirth, and death of unweaned young. Cumulati ve mortality incidences (CMI) during the first month in captive popula tions (CP) of Cercopithecoidea range between 13 and 51%, and CMI in th e first year between 28 and 56%. Mortality I ate during the first year ranges between <4 and 48% in free-ranging populations (FRP) and betwe en 10 and 60% in wild populations (WP). Much of the juvenile mortality in CP appears to occur in the first month, whereas in FRP and WP mort ality is more scattered throughout the juvenile period. High mortality rates occur in both CP and WP of nonhuman Hominoidea. Mortality rate during the first month in CP is between 12 and 36% for the Hylobatidae and between 18 and 31% for the Pongidae. If the entire juvenile perio d is consider ed, gorilla CP and WP have comparable CMI, while CMI is higher ir I WP than CP for chimpanzees. Most of the juvenile mortality in CP of chimpanzees occurs before the age of I)tear. Trauma, includi ng infanticide and maternal inadequacy, seems to be a more important f actor in infant mortality of Cercopithecoidea than infectious disease is. Relatively frequent reports of congenital, hereditary, and/or gene tically determined malformations in the Cercopithecoidea may be relate d to the long use of animals in this group for laboratory purposes. In fectious disease is the most important cause of nonhuman hominoid juve nile mortality, followed by trauma and maternal disorders, particularl y related aberrant maternal behavior: Cercopithecoid juvenile mortalit y risk factors most frequently mentioned in the literature are sex of the infant and rank of the mother: dominant females produce more femal e offspring and juvenile males stiffer higher mortality than females d o. The female skewed sex ratio at birth in gorillas and chimpanzees co uld be explained by the local resource competition theory. Higher male mortality rates occur in nonhuman Hominoidea, except in two Hylobates spp, and Pan paniscus which have higher female mortality. Parity and rearing history of the mother are very important risk factors nonhuman hominoid infant mortality.