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Plus, these temporary caretakers might be learning a thing or two about how to take care of their own offspring.
此外，这些临时保姆可能是在学习如何照顾自己的孩子。
That seems to be another major reason animals adopt.
这似乎是动物收养的另一个主要原因。
Studies suggest that such parenting practice is especially useful if animals only produce a few litters in their lifetime
研究表明，如果动物一生只生育几窝幼崽，或者照顾孩子需要大量的工作，
or if caring for their kids requires a lot of work. On top of all of that, there's evidence that foster parents get benefits which help them with non-parenting tasks.
那么这种育儿方法尤其有用。最重要的是，有证据表明，养父母得到的好处可以帮助它们完成非育儿任务。
Like, they might actually become smarter. A 2015 paper published in the journal Animal Behaviour
比如，它们可能会变得更加聪明。一项2105年出版于《Animal Behaviour》的论文发现
found that female African striped mice who had raised pups were better able to remember their way through a maze, for example.
养过幼崽的非洲条纹雌性老鼠更能记住通过迷宫的路线。
And it didn't matter if the mice had raised their own or another mouse's pups.
不管这些老鼠是自己养的还是其他老鼠的幼崽。
That may be because the act of parenting alters mammalian brains, whether or not the parent actually gave birth to the offspring they're taking care of.
这可能是因为养育行为改变了哺乳动物的大脑，无论父母是否真的产下了自己照顾的这些幼崽。
If all that weren't enough reason for an animal to alloparent, having a kid around can sometimes give individuals a status boost.
如果所有这些还不足以成为动物异亲的理由，有一个孩子在身边有时可以提升个体的地位。
For example, male baboons can temporarily boost their social status and gain protection from other aggressive males
例如，雄性狒狒如果被看到在为幼狒狒梳理毛发和照顾幼狒狒，它们的社会地位可以暂时被提高，
if they're seen grooming and taking care of young. And barbary macaques will go even further by placing an infant down
并从其他好斗的雄性狒狒那里获得保护。巴巴利猕猴甚至会更进一步，
between themselves and a dominant male to get social status without needing to fight for it.
它们会把幼崽放在自己和占统治地位的雄性之间，以轻松获得社会地位。
Some scientists think this trick works because high ranking primates parent more offspring.
一些科学家认为这种把戏能够成功是因为高级灵长类动物养育更多后代。
The idea is these lower-ranking animals are taking advantage of the fact that the more dominant ones don't want to attack what are likely their own kids.
他们认为这些地位较低的动物利用了这样一个事实，即更占优势的动物不想攻击可能是它们自己孩子的动物。
Finally, taking care of someone else's baby might increase an animal's chance of having their own someday.
最后，照顾别人的幼崽可能会增加动物将来拥有自己孩子的机会。
For example, it's thought that the act of adoption may make female northern elephant seals more likely to have offspring the next year.
例如，人们认为，这种收养行为可能会使雌性北方象海豹更有可能在明年生育后代。
That's because studies suggest lactation and regular nursing help induce ovulation — which, you know, is kind of important in mammalian reproduction.
这是因为研究表明哺乳和定期哺乳有助于排卵——你知道，排卵在哺乳动物的繁殖中是很重要的。
It's really hard to know if a wild seal has ovulated, of course.
当然，很难知道野生海豹是否排卵。
But females in this species generally avoid and rebuff males if they're not physiologically ready to get pregnant.
但在这个物种中，如果雌性还没有做好怀孕的生理准备，它们通常会避开并拒绝雄性。
And a 1972 study did note that females who nursed a pup to weaning usually copulated before heading off from the breeding site,
1972年的一项研究确实注意到，在断奶期间喂养幼犬的雌犬通常会在离开繁殖地之前进行交配，
while ones that didn't weren't seen mating.
而那些没有的雌性则不会。
In the end, depending on the species, alloparenting may have a whole suite of advantages — and not just for the kid.
最后，根据物种的不同，替代父母行为可能有一整套的好处——不仅仅是对孩子。
So it's not actually that surprising so many animals step up and take care of other animals' young.
所以有这么多动物站出来照顾其他动物的幼崽并不奇怪。
And it's certainly a help for when our species wants to do some rehabilitation of animals, because these furry or feathered foster parents are a real help.
当我们的物种想要为动物做一些修复时，这当然会有帮助，因为这些毛茸茸的或有羽毛的养父母是真正的帮助。
Right now, there are lots of species of endangered animals being saved thanks to the hard work of humans and animal foster parents alike.
现在，由于人类和动物养父母的努力工作，许多濒临灭绝的动物得到了拯救。
The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Sea Otter Program, for example, which works with the threatened California sea otter,
例如蒙特雷湾水族馆的海獭项目（他们与受到威胁的加利福尼亚海獭合作）
has been in place since 1984, and has helped more than 700 otters! And let's give a special thanks to Selka and Rosa for showing off their fostering skills.
从1984年就开始了并且已经帮助到了七百多只水獭！让我们特别感谢塞尔卡和罗莎展示了它们的养育技能。
They're doing the Sea Otter Program proud!
它们是海獭项目的骄傲！
Through similar efforts, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and its colleagues in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums
通过类似的努力，蒙特雷湾水族馆和动物园和水族馆协会的同事们
give lots of orphaned animals another shot at life, while helping their species return to their historic range.
给了许多孤儿动物一次生存的机会，同时帮助它们的物种重回历史范围。
The Aquarium also participates in programs helping the critically endangered African penguin and the endangered Western snowy plover, for example.
该水族馆还参与了帮助极度濒危的非洲企鹅和濒危的西部雪鸻的项目。
And these programs are just one of the many ways the Aquarium is fulfilling its mission to care for the ocean and everything that lives in it.
这些项目只是水族馆履行其使命的众多方式之一，即照顾海洋和生活在海洋里的一切。
If you want to learn more, you can head over to montereybayaquarium.org.
如果你想了解更多，请前往montereybayaquarium.org
And if you want to see more sweet otter cuddles, be sure to check out the Aquarium's Instagram, Twitter, and other social media accounts!
如果你想看到更多可爱的水獭拥抱，一定要看看水族馆的In、推特和其他社交媒体账号！
You'll find links in the description.
下方有链接。
