Question

When my animal is to old to physically carry her baby what process can I use to still produce her young from her

Answer 1

Taking care of" is a very human term in the sense of care giving, but so is "parents", because animals do not retain family structures in the form humans do. The vast majority of animals do not recognize family members. Among predators, an aging parent, such as the male lion in a pride, would continue to be taken care of by the females just as they always were, until a stronger outside male ousted it. An aging silverback in a group of gorillas would eventually be challenged and overthrown by one of his sons. When the elder became too infirm to care for itself, it would go off by itself to die. The only animal species that modify their behavior due to familial bonds to accommodate the needs of an aging member of the family are Cetaceans (whales) and Pachyderms (elephants). Whales have been seen to bouy up an ailing member of the pod (an extended family) to keep it from sinking. Elephants have the closest family ties of all animals, the eldest surviving female, the Matriarch of a herd, might be the great, great, great grandmother to the youngest and the others in varying relationships, are mothers, grandmothers, children, sisters, aunts and cousins, the older always taking care of and sheltering the younger. They also shelter and accommodate the older. If one member is sick or too old to keep up, the rest of the herd will slow down to allow the lagging one to keep up. This "caring" behavior has its limitations. The herd will not endanger itself to stay with an ailing member who will never be able to keep up. However, when the Matriarch herself is dying of old age, and the herd is in an area where food and water are abundant, the rest of the herd will stay with her, comfort her with their trunks, caressing her, talking to her, vocalizing over her, never leaving her side. While some are foraging, there will always be a group around her comforting her and expressing their love. (Scientists used to dismiss that term as inapplicable to animals, but the evidence is overwhelming that higher animal species have the same emotions humans do.) The herd will remain with her body, mourning, for several days, and years later will still return to fondle her bones with their trunks. Eventually one of the Matriarch's daughters will be chosen as the one to follow, or even two in which case the herd would divide into two new herds, the daughters and their offspring of each new Matriarch following their own family line.
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