Animals in captivity are more practical than in nature

Animals living near people are much more practical than wildlife. This applies in any case to the kea (a New Zealand mountain parakeet) and to monkeys, biologists Ken Cheng and Richard Byrne write this month in an analysis in the Journal of Comparative Psychology (online 19 July). Among these animals, the manipulation of objects is at least well studied in the wild, so that a real comparison is possible. For example, in experiments, wild kaas have proved far less "intelligent" in solving practical problems than domestic problems. Among the great apes, only chimpanzees in the wild seem as useful as in captivity

More free time

The reasons why the trapped animals become more practical are that they acquire many more animals. Artificial objects and can also use their use In people, Cheng and Byrne write. Also, because they do not have to look for their own food, they have a lot more free time in captivity than in the wild, so they play a lot more with them. objects. The motor possibilities and the practical intelligence are therefore much greater. In nature too, a gorilla child learns how to pull leaves efficiently from branches. But adult gorillas do not have the time to play anymore. In the wild, gorillas rarely use tools, but in a zoo, we saw how gorillas made rakes to pack things and made sponges of coconut fiber to clean themselves. The logs were ladders.

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Orangutans are rarely seen in nature with tools or "objects". But in a rehabilitation center in Indonesia where the "human behavior" was even discouraged (not to complicate the return to the jungle) they did the best tricks: use boats to cross the water, move the sticks stir or burst and, pure imitation of people: sweep the leaves, saw the wood with a stick and burn the fire with a fan.

In nature, animals could also do it if there was more opportunity to get used to materials and objects. But in nature, animals have few opportunities to practice in a fun way. Too dangerous, too little time. The innate tendency to play has fewer opportunities in adults. And in nature, write Cheng and Byrne, there are also far fewer objects available that are ready for use.