The Detail / Life And Society

Long Read: The Teenage Animal

05:00 am on 13 May 2023

Long Read: The Teenage Animal

This is The Detail's Long Read - one in-depth story read by us every weekend.

Just like humans, animals go through ‘wildhood’—a time of experimentation, creativity, danger and learning. Photo: NZ Geographic

This week, it's The Teenage Animal by Kate Evans, published in NZ Geographic's May-June issue.

You can read the full article, with accompanying illustrations, here.

Adults have complained about teenagers since the dawn of time, but it turns out evolution has good reasons for giving adolescents deep-seated social insecurity and a propensity to take silly risks. Just like humans, animals go through ‘wildhood’—a time of experimentation, creativity, danger and learning.

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