Reproduction
Data on the reproductive parameters of a semi free-ranging population of Barbary macaques revealed a strongly seasonal distribution of births, with birth taking place between mid-March and the beginning of August.
Female Barbary macaques mate with multiple males during the breeding season. No association has been observed between mating behaviour and male-female friendships or male care of infants born the following birth season (Small 1990).
Males regularly groom, handle and carry infants from soon after birth but do not associate preferentially with related infants. Infants may be employed as buffers in a potentially aggressive situations and this behaviour may lower tension between males (MacDonald 1985)
Females give birth to a single infant or very rarely twins (Schaub 1987). Mean gestation length for a viable infant was 164.7 days (Kuester and Paul, 1984).
Data on the reproductive parameters of a semi free-ranging population of Barbary macaques revealed a strongly seasonal distribution of births, with birth taking place between mid-March and the beginning of August.
- Primiparous 4-year-old females gave birth later in the year than older primiparous or multiparous females.
- Multiparous females without an infant from the preceding season gave birth significantly earlier than females who had raised an infant.
- Birth intervals were approximately 1 year in 88.4% of cases and about 2 years in 11.6% of cases.
- High-ranking females gave birth to their first infant at a significantly younger age than low-ranking females and had more sons than daughters.
- Neonatal mortality in this troop was influenced by rank and parity of the mother and sex of the infant (Paul, Thommen 1984).
In a wild population in Algeria most mating behaviour was recorded in November and December with most births taking place in April and May (Menart et al 1985).