Jan.
7, 2013 — When it comes to solving puzzles, animals in captivity are,
well, different animals than their wild brethren.
Testing
animals' ability to solve new problems has been historically conducted on
animals in captivity. Only recently has a shift been made to run these tests on
animals in their natural habitat. In a study appearing in Animal Behaviour,
however, researchers at Michigan State University found vast differences in the
problem solving skills between captive and wild spotted hyenas.
Applying
lessons learned from captive animals is potentially problematic because they
may not accurately portray how wild animals respond to novel challenges, said
Sarah Benson-Amram, former MSU zoology graduate student and the study's lead
author.
"We
have to be careful when interpreting results from captive animals, as there may
be extreme differences between how animals behave in captivity and in the
wild," said Benson-Amram, who is now a research fellow at the University
of St. Andrews (Scotland). "An animal that is successful at solving
problems in the comfort of its cage may be unwilling to engage in similar
problem-solving behavior in the wild."
Posts
