ZOO Observations - Assignment Example

?Zoo Observations Introduction This is a report on observations made at the Woodland Park Zoo. Three animals were observed each for 20 minutes and their behaviors recorded systematically to complete this report. Patas Monkey The scientific name for Patas monkey is Erythrocebus patas. It has a lifespan of 15 to 20 years in its natural habitat and more than 20 years when in a controlled environment, for instance, in a zoo. I observed that the patas monkey is a quite animal and one with a great appetite. On its feeding habits, I observed that the monkey ate gluttonously - it fills its cheeks with food. It uses its fingers to feed itself. As a result of its quick feeding habits, the feeding time was very little - 3 minutes that is about 15 percent of the observation time. I also found the Patas monkey to be quite active. After eating, the monkey seemed excited wearing a playful face. It jumped as if it was dancing every often food went its way. I assumed its jumping was a way of soliciting for more food. The jumping was carried out for about a minute or less, that is, about 5 percent of the observation time. It was further observed that the Patas monkey walked on its fingers. I also noted that the monkey had a nice way of resting – it leaned back and put up its feet. It spent about 5 minutes in this position of relaxing – that is approximately 25 percent of the total time of observation. In the course of resting, I am not sure whether the monkey went to sleep because there are moments when it stayed still. After the sleep and relaxing, the monkey engaged in grooming and being groomed by other monkeys for some time – this was approximately 5 minutes (about 25 percent of the time). The patas monkey also engaged in what seemed like warm up exercises running up and down. I noted that it had an admirably great speed when it was being chased or chased other monkeys. The time spent in running up and down was about 30 percent of the observation time. Bornean orangutan The scientific name for Bornean orangutan is pongo pygmaeus. I found this ape to be bored and much of the observation time was spent not doing much. It took almost fifty percent of the observation time resting. In its resting position, the ape sat upright on the ground with its hands touching the ground. During my observation time the ape did sleep for roughly two to three minutes – that was about 15 percent of the observation time. When sleeping the ape lay on its back and stretched out its legs and hands. The ape did not seem to be interested in eating anything though it could reluctantly bite once or twice some fruits I threw to it. The ape did walk at some time using its four limbs – the walking style is what we described as terrestrial quadrupedalism in class. The ape did not seem to be in hurry when walking and I guess even if it tried to run it could not or at least it could not run very fast. Unlike the patas monkey which could ran very fast thus can easily evade being caught by its predators, the Bornean orangutan did not seem like one that could be easily intimidated by predators. In the course of the observation, I neither noted any facial expression by the orangutan nor any vocal expressions. The best way to describe the ape from the observations I made is that it was a solitary animal which did not express its feelings easily and one that seemed to be bored with its environment. It spent a good percentage of the observation time sitting down and strolling around. I must note it was not very interesting observing the Bornean orangutan especially after having a great time with a proactive patas monkey. Western lowland Gorilla The scientific name for the western lowland Gorilla is Gorilla gorilla gorilla. It was interesting watching this animal. It was quite active during the observation time. I also noted that it easily moved about. With the exception of the times when the gorilla sat down for about five minutes, I really did not see it resting. When it was sat, it was not exactly still but went about scratching itself and turning round to see what was happening. I can say that it was a curious animal wanting to know what was going on around it. It had a good appetite for fruits especially bananas. Its eating speed depended on the amount of food it had – the more the food the faster the eating. When eating it sat down upright. It never turned down any food it was given, if it taught it was not good it simply dropped it down but after some few minutes it could try it out again. It walked on its four limbs at times slowly and at other times quite faster. It had a companion and together they formed a playful duo. There was no grooming taking place in the course of the observation time – the twenty minutes were spent eating, running up and down, and sitting down. When chasing the other gorilla, it made some vocals and the intensity of the vocals increased when it caught up with the other one. The gorilla’s facial expression was quite expressive. It was not very hard to note from its facial expression when it was not amused because it put on a display face and when angry it changed to a full open grin. Generally, this animal was quite interactive and did not restrain from expressing itself. Comparison/Conclusion Comparing these three animals is quite interesting. The patas monkey had a great way of resting by raising its legs up. The orangutan just lay on its back and stretched its limbs and I think at some point it fell asleep. The gorilla did not really rest during the observation time. I did not understand why the orangutan appeared so idle while the gorilla was so active. These two animals almost had the same body size. My assumption is that maybe the orangutan had a bad day. On the aspect of eating, the patas monkey displayed a great appetite as well as the gorilla in contrast to the orangutan. The three animals sat down while eating – the patas monkey filled its cheeks with food while the other two did not. The patas monkey was the fastest of the three and could jump quite easily. This was because of its small body size compared to the other two. The gorilla made a number of vocalizations while the patas monkey and the orangutan did not. It was also quite interactive compared to the other two. Work Cited Woodland Park Zoo. Home. Woodland Park Zoo, 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. . Read More