Animal behavior
Animal behavior encompasses the diverse and often complex actions and responses that animals exhibit in reaction to their surroundings and social interactions. Different species demonstrate distinct behavioral patterns based on their ecological needs and social structures, while individuals within a species typically behave in predictable ways. For instance, many intelligent animals exhibit nurturing behaviors, with mothers, like polar bears and lionesses, displaying protective instincts toward their offspring. Hunting strategies also vary; while some carnivores, such as lions, hunt in groups, others, like tigers, rely on stealth and solitary tactics.
Social behavior is crucial for many species, facilitating communication and cooperation. For example, ants utilize pheromone trails to share food sources within their colonies, showcasing a form of altruism. Primates, including monkeys and gorillas, engage in intricate social bonding and cooperative behaviors that enhance survival. Additionally, there is evidence of problem-solving and the use of medicinal plants by some animals, highlighting the intelligence and adaptability of species such as orangutans. Overall, animal behavior is a rich field of study that reveals the intricate relationships and survival strategies of various species within their environments.
Animal behavior
All intelligent animals engage in unique behaviors in response to the range of scenarios that they may face throughout their lives. Though each species behaves differently depending on its nature and needs, animals within a species behave in a predictable way—they may use a certain technique when hunting or communicate in a certain way when interacting with other animals. Animal behavior patterns range from simple to complex, depending on the species.
Mothers and Offspring
Like humans, animal mothers are very protective of and dedicated to their offspring. These traits span across most of the intelligent, multi-celled animal classes such as mammals, reptiles, and fish. For example, when pregnant, polar bear mothers double their body weight so their digestive system does not begin breaking down the gestating offspring for food. When their cubs are born, polar bear mothers fast for several months so they can stay close to their offspring and nurse them as needed.
Lionesses, in their own displays of motherly affection, welcome any cubs in their pride—not only their own—to nurse from them. Crocodiles transport their young from place to place by delicately picking them up in their powerful jaws. Seahorse offspring are born from fathers, who keep fertilized eggs in their pouch until they are ready to hatch. In the insect class, queen bees generally lay up to two-thousand eggs every spring, which then hatch and become worker bees. What qualifies as proper parenting varies from species to species, but animal mothers (and fathers) that successfully practice these habits get to pass on their genes to the next generation while those not physically up to the task do not.
Hunting
Animals either learn to hunt from their parents or already know instinctually how to do so. Some animals eat exclusively meat or plants, though some eat both or neither. Vampire bats, for example, do not kill but feed only on the blood of other animals for sustenance. But the majority of complex, intelligent animals engage in some form of hunting, which involves the killing and eating of prey.
Carnivores, or animals that eat meat, have multiple methods of hunting for food. To take down large prey such as elephants, lions form hunting groups and work together to overcome these enormous, powerful animals. Other mammals, such as tigers and polar bears, hunt alone and use stealth to surprise and kill their prey.
Having a plan when hunting is important to most predators as being able to quickly kill an unsuspecting victim ultimately saves predators more energy than having to pursue it over great distances. Among reptiles, crocodiles are known for their silent, lethal method of acquiring food. Lying in wait underwater, they observe their prey quietly until they are ready to attack. They then use their vice-like jaws to grab the deer, water buffalo, or other victim, drown it underwater, and then eat it at their leisure.
Some animals camouflage themselves to blend into their environment so that their unwary prey will approach them. The praying mantis has a green, plant-like body that it uses to blend into leaves so that it can catch flies and other insects to eat. Under the sea, one of the most dominant of camouflaged hunters is the cuttlefish. This mollusk can change colors to suit nearly any background. Cuttlefish often use this appearance-altering ability to transfix their prey as they get closer and finally attack. Some animals, such as deer and rabbits, eat only vegetation and do not need to hunt others. But they themselves are prey to large meat-eaters and must balance finding their own sustenance with avoiding becoming food for a predator.
Social Behavior
Intelligent animals have many ways of interacting with one another to convey information. This is especially true of species that live and work together in groups. Ants are a prime example of this. If an ant locates food somewhere, it feeds itself before journeying back to its colony. As it travels, the ant leaves a trail of pheromones that other ants can follow to the food. In this way, all ants in the colony benefit from one ant's discovery.
This kind of altruistic interaction within animal groups is known as affiliative behavior. Animals have a high degree of self-interest in acting this way, for collaborating with a group nearly always guarantees food for all and collective protection from predators. Like ants and many other species, primates are also social animals whose affiliative behavior can keep them alive when the need arises. Immature rhesus monkeys must follow a series of socialization steps before they can develop bonds with other members of their group. As newborns, they prefer to remain physically close to one another to calibrate their sense of distance and self. As they grow, the monkeys begin touching everything in sight, including other monkeys. This leads to the final stage of development, play, a kind of semi-hostile wrestling that ultimately produces strong emotional ties among the juvenile monkeys. As adults, they can help each other hunt for food and flee from predators.
Once all the members of an animal group have grown familiar with and trusting of one another, they can collaborate to accomplish all they need to survive. Among gorillas, one dominant male usually makes all decisions for the group, such as deciding what kind of food to eat and commanding that any inter-group fighting cease. Beavers strike the surfaces of water with their tail to alert other beavers that predators are near. Even insects as small as termites can warn one another of danger by throwing themselves into earthen walls, which creates vibrations that all other termites in a colony can feel.
Over time, most animals have developed various modes of communicating with one another. Their methods are consistent with their innate intelligence, and each kind of behavior functions exactly as it should for the specific animal group. In this way, animals that live in groups and behave socially have efficiently maintained their own survival.
In June 2022, researchers witnessed an orangutan treat a wound using a plant with known medicinal properties. The orangutan, living in Indonesia, chewed plant leaves, rubbed the juice on an open wound on its face, then used the leaves as a poultice for the injury. As reported by biologists, this was the first-known case of a wild animal treating an active wound with a medical plant.
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