The influence of social upbringing on the activity pattern of lion Panthera leo cubs was investigated at three sites. In this study, stimulus objects such as sticks, grass, fresh dung (elephant Loxondota africana, ze...The influence of social upbringing on the activity pattern of lion Panthera leo cubs was investigated at three sites. In this study, stimulus objects such as sticks, grass, fresh dung (elephant Loxondota africana, zebra Equus quagga, impala Aepyceros melampus, duiker Sylvicapra grimmia, kudu Tragelaphus strepsiceros, giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis and wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus) and cardboard boxes, were utilized in an enrichment program aimed at encouraging active behaviors of captive lion cubs at Antelope Park and Masuwe. Lion cubs at Chipangali were not behaviorally enriched. Activity patterns were recorded for 10 days at each site. We recorded moving, resting, playing, grooming, visual exploration and display of hunting instincts. We found that behavioral enrichment enhanced the active behaviors of captive lion cubs. Orphan-raised cubs spent more time moving, playing and displaying hunting instincts than mother-raised cubs, but the time spent grooming was similar across areas and suggests that grooming is not influenced by enrichment. Mother-raised cubs spent more time engaged in visual exploration than orphan-raised cubs and this could be a behavior acquired from mothers or a result of confidence to explore because of their presence. Activity patterns were different among time treatments across our three study sites. Based on these findings, we suggest that lion cubs raised in captivity could benefit from behavioral enrichment to encourage active behaviors essential for eventual reintroduction into the wild展开更多
In hand reared birds and mammals, it is generally considered that the development of hoarding behavior is the result of an interaction between the development and maturation of the nervous system and learning from ind...In hand reared birds and mammals, it is generally considered that the development of hoarding behavior is the result of an interaction between the development and maturation of the nervous system and learning from individual experience. How- ever, few studies have been done on wild animals. We tested differences in hoarding behavior between captive reared and wild individuals of two sympatric small rodents, Korean field mice Apodemus peninsulae and Chinese white-bellied rats Niviventer confucianus. Our aim was to identify if lack of experience from the wild would result in poorly developed hoarding behavior. The Korean field mice perform scatter- and larder-hoarding behaviors whereas Chinese white-bellied rats hoard food in larders only. Within outdoor enclosures we compared seed-hoarding behavior in reared juveniles (RJ, 40-50 d old, pregnant mothers were captured in the wild), wild juveniles (WJ, as young as the RJ) and wild adults (WA, over-winter animals). We found that a lack of experience from the wild had significant effects on seed-hoarding behavior for both species. The RJ-group removed and hoarded fewer seeds than the WJ- and WA-groups. The two latter groups hoarded seeds in a similar way. In the Korean filed mouse the ILl-group placed more seeds on the ground surface than other groups. These findings suggest that wild experience is important for the acquisition of an appropriate food-hoarding behavior (especially for scatter-hoarding) in these species展开更多
文摘The influence of social upbringing on the activity pattern of lion Panthera leo cubs was investigated at three sites. In this study, stimulus objects such as sticks, grass, fresh dung (elephant Loxondota africana, zebra Equus quagga, impala Aepyceros melampus, duiker Sylvicapra grimmia, kudu Tragelaphus strepsiceros, giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis and wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus) and cardboard boxes, were utilized in an enrichment program aimed at encouraging active behaviors of captive lion cubs at Antelope Park and Masuwe. Lion cubs at Chipangali were not behaviorally enriched. Activity patterns were recorded for 10 days at each site. We recorded moving, resting, playing, grooming, visual exploration and display of hunting instincts. We found that behavioral enrichment enhanced the active behaviors of captive lion cubs. Orphan-raised cubs spent more time moving, playing and displaying hunting instincts than mother-raised cubs, but the time spent grooming was similar across areas and suggests that grooming is not influenced by enrichment. Mother-raised cubs spent more time engaged in visual exploration than orphan-raised cubs and this could be a behavior acquired from mothers or a result of confidence to explore because of their presence. Activity patterns were different among time treatments across our three study sites. Based on these findings, we suggest that lion cubs raised in captivity could benefit from behavioral enrichment to encourage active behaviors essential for eventual reintroduction into the wild
文摘In hand reared birds and mammals, it is generally considered that the development of hoarding behavior is the result of an interaction between the development and maturation of the nervous system and learning from individual experience. How- ever, few studies have been done on wild animals. We tested differences in hoarding behavior between captive reared and wild individuals of two sympatric small rodents, Korean field mice Apodemus peninsulae and Chinese white-bellied rats Niviventer confucianus. Our aim was to identify if lack of experience from the wild would result in poorly developed hoarding behavior. The Korean field mice perform scatter- and larder-hoarding behaviors whereas Chinese white-bellied rats hoard food in larders only. Within outdoor enclosures we compared seed-hoarding behavior in reared juveniles (RJ, 40-50 d old, pregnant mothers were captured in the wild), wild juveniles (WJ, as young as the RJ) and wild adults (WA, over-winter animals). We found that a lack of experience from the wild had significant effects on seed-hoarding behavior for both species. The RJ-group removed and hoarded fewer seeds than the WJ- and WA-groups. The two latter groups hoarded seeds in a similar way. In the Korean filed mouse the ILl-group placed more seeds on the ground surface than other groups. These findings suggest that wild experience is important for the acquisition of an appropriate food-hoarding behavior (especially for scatter-hoarding) in these species