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Letter: Letter

Published 3 June 2001

From Lisa Stephens

Your feature notes that the first question we ask about a new baby is “boy or
girl?” But we humans may not be alone in that.

I once observed a troop of monkeys in Kenya as a new mother returned to the
compound with her baby, having just given birth. The others crowded around,
cooing over the baby and grooming the exhausted mother. And, sure enough, the
first thing every one of them did when they inspected the infant was check its
genitals to see whether it was a boy or girl.

Toronto, Canada

Issue no. 2293 published 2 June 2001

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