2023-09-08 22:02:00
There are no school classes in the animal world. Animal children learn what is important for survival primarily from their parents.
School, classes, teachers, homework – that only exists with us humans. And animal children, how do they learn? In almost all mammals, the offspring learn survival strategies from their parents and conspecifics. This is called imitation, says Lisa Sernow, curator at Salzburg Zoo. She is responsible for organizing the habitats and caring for the zoo animals.
Snow leopard children, for example, observe how adults stalk prey and then practice it. They stalk their mothers, who then intentionally scare them excessively. This is the sign for the little snow leopards that they have done well. “When you imitate something, a lot of things happen in a playful way,” explains Sernow.
There are currently five little ibexes at Salzburg Zoo that were born in May and June. They are like a kindergarten group. They frolic around together or rest in rocky niches. They observe the behavior of older animals and incorporate it into their play. They encourage each other to rear up or bang their heads together. They bump into each other so they slide down rocks and have to climb back up. Lisa Sernow compares it to physical education class. In this way, the Capricorn offspring trains their sure-footedness. At the same time, muscles build up.
In the case of collared peccaries, South American umbilical pigs, the young live with their mothers and other animals in a herd, i.e. a larger group. They learn from the older animals where they can sleep, where there is food and how they behave in the group with their hierarchy.
Marmosets like the emperor mustache tamarin are food specialists. For example, parents show their children which plants they can eat. When the little tamarins switch from mother’s milk to solid food, they take food away from their parents. You know: If the parents eat it, then it’s not poisonous.
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#Learn #play #SN.at
