Habitat Use and Structural Preferences of Captive Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla): Effects of Environmental and Social Variables
Exhibit naturalism has become the architectural standard for new zoo exhibits, yet our scientific understanding of how animals interact with naturalistic environments is very limited. Given the expense incurred in building new exhibits, it is essential that more information on animal-environment interactions be obtained and that it be incorporated at the outset into exhibit designs. […]
Communal nesting is unrelated to burrow availability in the common warthog
Warthogs, Phacochoerus africanus, are an unusual ungulate. They are facultative cooperative breeders where females within the same population display both solitary and cooperative reproductive strategies. Warthogs require burrows for sleeping and rearing their young, yet they are unable to dig their own burrows and rely on aardvark excavations. Studies of warthogs have failed to show […]
Microhabitat evaluation and utilization by a foraging predator
Sit-and-wait foraging is a distinct strategy that involves significant investments prior to prey encounters. However, the complexity of decisions involved in selecting, maintaining and abandoning ambush sites provides considerable opportunity for learning and flexibility, particularly for trap-building predators, such as web-building spiders. Most research into the behaviour of trap-building predators has focused on the initiation […]