Zoo's Watching Who?
Audio Slideshow
Rachel Kohn has her eye on Casey, an alpha male gorilla. Cole Moore's not letting the white-faced sakis out of his sight. Both are tracking each animal's every move, recording them carefully.
Sometimes the primates stare right back at the students.
That's what happens in "Methods of Behavioral Observations," a 300-level anthropology course that teaches students how to collect behavioral data. "The methods that the students are learning in this class can be used to collect behavioral data on any animal species, including humans, but in this class we focus specifically on primates and we collect the data here at the Audubon Zoo," explains Dr. Katharine Jack, an assistant professor in the department of Anthropology, who teaches the course.
After a few weeks of observation, Kohn has the gorilla pretty much figured out. "He doesn't like people very much so he sits in the back of the enclosure keeping his eye on things," she explains as she jots down her notes. Casey glares back at the crowds marveling a safe distance away. "On certain days he's displaying quite magnificently and telling everyone he's the boss, including throwing dirt on people watching him." The observation is useful for Kohn, an anthropology major who hopes to head to field schools in Africa for post-graduate studies one day.
After two and a half months of classroom instruction and practical lab assignments on behavioral observation methods, the students embark on individual research projects that examine the behavior of a particular primate species. These research projects are designed in collaboration with zoo personnel in an attempt to provide useful information on the behavior of the primates. For example, one student, anthropology junior Sarah Nawochik, is studying an elderly solitary female lemur. "She's very old and the zoo wants to know if she is actually getting to eat the food they put out for her or if it is being eaten by birds or rats or other animals," Dr. Jack explained. "The information gathered from Nawochik's study can then be used by zoo personnel to designate the best locations to place the food so that the lemur can get access to it."
Senior Cole Moore is gathering data on a rare combination of white-faced saki and golden lion tamarins. "Both are from South America but they are never found together in the wild," he explains. He is comparing their activities in the wild with that in Audubon Zoo. He predicts some nervous twitching for the sakis: "I think there will be a difference because they don't have an instinctual adaptation to deal with tamarins. Grooming behavior for the sakis is a nervous behavior and due to this outside influence they really start to feel nervous about their surroundings."
Meantime, the drama is heating up nearby as a group of orangutans are embroiled in a power struggle with romantic overtones. According to senior Sara Lacy, an older female dominated the group until a sexually maturing male challenged her and overtook the dominant role. A younger female sided with the male and a coup ensued. The younger female who was instigating the aggression was removed for a short period so that the two adults could settle their dispute. "The older female and the male have made up and now he's in the dominate position and courting her for mating," Lacy says. The Houston native has been recording their activity in intervals ranging from 15 seconds to a minute, looking at energy expenditure and social interactions. "Asking questions about these primates helps us answer questions about our own evolution," she says. This type of data may in turn assist scientists in identifying the best strategies for conserving these endangered primate species.
