Page 58 - Zoo Animal Learning and Training

30 2 The Cognitive Abilities of Wild Animals

VetBooks.ir than wild hyaenas. This appears to be because closely related animals have similar behav-
iours, as well as considerable individual dif-
the captive animals were less neophobic and
more exploratory than their wild counterparts
operant, allows wild animals to learn about
(Benson‐Amram et al. 2013). When they eat ferences. Conditioning, both classical and
nettles, zoo gorillas process the plants in a causal relationships among events in the
different way from that of wild gorillas, sug- world that are biologically meaningful to
gesting that while the manual skills are them by learning to associate environmental
innate, the precise techniques are acquired cues with the appearance of biologically
through enculturation (Byrne et al. 2011). important events. In addition, animals are
More of these kinds of studies need to be either continuously or intermittently rein-
done to help us understand how learning and forced or punished for learned behaviours,
its contribution to naturalistic behaviours are the latter of which is more common in the
affected over long‐term captivity. wild. Wild animals, especially birds and pri-
mates exhibit an impressive array of cognitive
abilities: tool use, spatial learning, memory,
2.9 Summary and Conclusions discrimination, observational and social
learning, imitation, and cultural transmis-
This chapter provided an overview of the sion. Animals of a wide range of taxa utilise a
variety of cognitive abilities documented in variety of sensory and perceptual modalities
wild animals. It is highly adaptive and impor- to navigate through their natural environ-
tant for individuals across species and habi- ments (see modalities boxes for more infor-
tats to learn in the wild. The physical and mation). Furthermore, communication and
social environments that animals live in are acquisition of communicative repertoires is
dynamic, and it should follow that behaviours considered an essential form of social learn-
are able to be dynamic too. Differences in ing between conspecifics in the wild, and can
learning abilities are to have lifetime benefits positively influence attracting mates, locating
as well as evolutionary consequences with food, and avoiding predators. All of these
respect to foraging, reproduction and sur- types of learning can be highly adaptive to
vival success. Behaviour is the product of animals living in the wild. Despite the chal-
both natural selection as well as an individual lenges of studying animals in their natural
animal’s external and internal (biological) habitats, doing so has important implications
environments. Great variability in behaviour for how we ensure quality learning can occur
occurs both between and within species; even in a wide variety of animal care facilities.

References

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Learning and context‐specific exploration Holekamp, K.E. (2013). A comparison of
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science 132: between wild and captive spotted hyaenas,
90–99. Crocuta crocuta. Animal Behaviour 85:
Bender, C.E., Herzing, D.L., and Bjorklund, 349–356.
D.F. (2009). Evidence of teaching in atlantic Biro, D., Inoue‐Nakamura, N., Tonooka, R.
spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) by et al. (2003). Cultural innovation and
mother dolphins foraging in the presence transmission of tool use in wild
of their calves. Animal Cognition 12 (1): chimpanzees: evidence from field
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