Dyadic interactions of infant lowland gorillas in an outdoor exhibit compared to an indoor holding area
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.1430130306.abs The behavior of two lowland gorilla mother-infant pairs living in a social group at Zoo Atlanta was compared in an indoor holding area vs. an outdoor exhibit. Focal animal data were collected for each pair during 30-min observation sessions over 24 days, alternating between indoors and outdoors. A variety of individual and social […]
Space use and proximity of captive chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) mother/offspring pairs
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.1430130108.abs This pilot study considers space use and behavior patterns for nine chimpanzee mother-offspring pairs. Observations were conducted using instantaneous scan sampling, four times daily, five days a week, for four weeks. Mother-offspring use of vertical space and horizontal space and mother-offspring proximity were observed and analyzed using a Chi Square test. Results suggest […]
Response to novel food in infant chimpanzees: Do infants refer to mothers before ingesting food on their own?
We investigated infant response toward novel food in captive chimpanzees under the condition in which they can explore such items freely together with their mother. Infants first approached novel foods rather than familiar ones when presented simultaneously. However, they did not ingest novel food immediately, but always sniff-licked it first. Infants tended to pay attention […]