Psychology, Animal Behavior and Neuroscience
Spring 2005
Imagine getting a shot every morning that gave you all the nutrients you need for the day – you no longer need to eat. Do you think you’d still want to chew on something at certain points during the day? Would gum become an appealing habit or would your pen cap suffer? Would you still rummage around the fridge for food?
Eduardo Fernandez thinks you would. And, he says, the desire to forage is a big part of why animals in zoos often exhibit stereotypical behaviors. Polar bears pace, walruses swim in circles, and giraffes lick their barn doors. His research focuses not only on understanding why these behaviors take place, but also how to help animals be able to behave more like they would in the wild.
Many zoos have been experimenting with how to feed their animals by spreading food around for them to find, feeding them at different times of the day and techniques such as these have helped, but it’s important, Eduardo says, that we understand why animals behave as they do in captivity – that it’s not just that animals are bored, like is commonly thought.
For example, walruses spend all day skimming the bottom of the ocean and pounding the ocean floor looking for stuff to eat. One of Eduardo’s projects involves providing a feeding mat that zookeepers can stuff fish and mollusks into for the walrus to forage. Another project involves giving the walruses large balls with fish in them. The walrus takes the balls in their flippers and have to shake the balls to get the fish out one by one.
Another recent project involves polar bears, who have the largest home ranges of any land mammals and, not ironically, exhibit some of the most stereotypic behavior in captivity. With concern for global warming on the rise and the polar caps at risk, learning how to create natural environments allowing polar bears to be more themselves is more important than ever.
Eduardo Fernandez is a graduate student in the department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. To learn more about his research, visit his website.
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