Risk-taking in young chimps and teens is similar
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Teenagers are well known for doing crazy things. It seems that once a child becomes a teen, they take a lot more risks. Some of these are dangerous and lead to injury, or worse. A new study of young chimpanzees may explain risky behaviour in children. The study is from researchers at the University of Michigan in the USA. They studied over 100 wild chimpanzees in a national park in Uganda. The chimps ranged in age from 2 to 65 years. The researchers looked at how the animals swung through trees. The youngest chimps seemed to do more dangerous things, like letting go of branches and letting themselves fall. Older chimps took fewer risks and made sure they gripped branches firmly.
Lead researcher and anthropologist Laura MacLatchy suggested why children and young chimpanzees take more risks. She believes it is because they are at an age when people supervise them less. Parents and carers often stop very young children from doing things that might cause injuries. However, young teens have more freedom and want to try new and risky things. Professor MacLatchy said the risk-taking was the same for male and female chimps and humans. The website ScienceAlert said that "some anthropologists argue for increasing children's access to thrill-seeking play, including the old-fashioned monkey bars, as a way to help them develop motor skills and skeletal strength".
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