ETHOGRAM OF AN ORANGUTAN

Transcription

1 Common Name: Orang-Utan,/ Scientific Name: Pongo pygmaeus Countÿ Sÿznatra, Indonesia ETHOGRAM OF AN ORANGUTAN Number of_species: Undistinguishable from distance - about three Description of Habitat: The cage was filled with ropes that symbolized vines hung from trees,/ for the orangutan's to swigg across the cage. There was a large naked tree in the center on which \./,, one of the orangutan was sitting on. On the far left of the cage, a small wooden house/box was seen, probably where they slept at night. General Deseriÿ Size varied from small to huge ones, the small ones being the young ones or females and the large onqs)bÿing the older males. The skin on the face, hands and feet seemed dark gray and all of them were'/covered in long, flowing, reddish pelage. However, the females had less hair than the males. As far as locomotion in orangutan goes, most of used both hands and feet to go from one place to art&her. Rarely, jumped or leaped around like the monkeys. Vocalization was hard to record,, h/oÿvever according to sources, "up to 18 different vocalizations have been identified, including 4"types of distress calls made by young animals, 8 types of calls dealing with threat or fear, and 6 types of calls dealing with mating, territoriality, play, and contentment" (San Diego Zoo Library 2003). First Observation: Min Behaviour 1 Resting 2 Locomotion 3 Looking for Food 4 Looking for Food j 5-6 Eating 7-9 Grooming 10 Drinking Code R L E G D Description Orangutan rests in its wooden box, lying down. Rises suddenly, and moves to the fat- end Of the cage, using the ropes in the cage to hop. Jumps down from the rope, and starts to scavenge the soil for particles of food. Jumps down from the rope, and starts to scavenge the soil for particles Of food. Chews whatever it rinds, particulat'ly an insect or a seed. Combs its fur to rid of insects & fleas; chews them instantly. Moves to the place the water is found and drinks it.

2 ETHOGRAM OF A GORILLA Common Name: Gorilla /'/ Seientifiÿ Name: Gorilla gorilla Central Afifca,/ Number of Species: about 5; inclusive of large males, medium sized females and small young and babies. Description of Habitat: The place whe}'e the gorillas resided in the Houston Zoo was a massive enclosure. It was a grassland with lotÿiof trees, which were almost leaf less. Some of those naked tree barks were tilted towards the ground and each of the trees was connected with a rope so that the babies or smaller gorillas could swing through to locomote. Amidst the naked tree barks were a few palm trees. Since the enclosure was roughly oval shaped, two thirds of the walls were made of stone, while the rest was thick glass for viewing purposes. General Deseriÿ Standing up the/gorillas seemed as tall as adult humans, males being bigger in size and weight as comparedÿo the female and baby gorillas. The skin on the face and palms looked very rough and hard; although most of the body was covered with dark gray/black long hair. Gorillas walked using their four limbs (a.k.a. quadrupedal walking) on their knuckles. / Adult males sparingly seemed to climb):@es, as compared to the females and infants. The, 'ÿ J gordlas are known to have 22 distract sounds that include grtmts, barks, screams and hoots (San Diego Zoo Libratq 2006) Second Obselwation: Min Behaviour Locomotion Staring Code L S Description The male gorilla walks slowly towards the viewers and sits down on the ground.,/i0nce the gorilla sat down the next thing it does is stare at the people on the other side of the glass. It has a constant stare and it seldom blinks its eyes. While staring it does not do anything at all. After a long four minute period of staring at the viewers the gorilla carefully gets up back on its feet and starts to 7 Locomotion L walk away from the glass into its enclosure towards the fat back side where the stone wall is located. e aby gor'dla about % the size of the male gorilla is I seen swinging on the ropes that were attached to the 8 I Swinging Sÿt starts at the far end of the enclosure, near the I I palm trees and successfully swings his way up to the I [ tree near tree near the the glass.

3 Groom G On the right hand side of the enclosure, one female gorilla is seen grooming herself. She constantly repeats the same behaviour of using her claws to smooth her J hair fi;pm top to bottom, while sitting down in the grassy area. /Unlike the orangutan, this female gorilla doesnt seem to eat the insects or fleas that come out of her Scavenging Resting Sc R body. One of the other male gorillas, not as huge as the first one, is seen roaming around the entire enclosure scavenging the dirt and mud something. For more than three minutes, that gorilla is seen going around the enclqsure many times, looking down on the ground and nell" looking back up, leaving claw marks in the dirt. T14at one doesn't even stop in front of the glass like the others did. The infant gorilla is seen resting near one of the other female gorilla's which seems to be its mother. This is happening in the front of the enclosure. The mother is Looking for food Eating Drinking E D isi;vering its baby, shading it from the sun as the baby is eping under her arms. Finally, the first large male gorilla, the one that was the subject of focal sampling, gets back up and goes to the end of the enclosure, near the stone wall to fetch a bafiana. It comes right back in front of the glass, easily {sible to the viewers. The banana seems pretty old and otten. The gorilla carefully peels the skin off; a weird behaviour is noticed: it peels the banana from the underside of the fruit, not like the humans do. The same male gorilla has finished peeling the banana and/has now started to eat it. It is seen that it thoroughly cÿws the bite before swallowing. Since its mouth is Oretty large, the banana is finished in about two bites. Once the banana is finished, the gorilla gets back up from the ground and walks to the place where it knows water is available. It goes to that place and drink large firnounts/- of water at once.

4 ETHOGRAM OF A CHIMPANZEE Common Name: Bonobo or Pÿgmy Chimpanzee 7 Scientific Name: Pan paniscus Countrÿ of Origin: Central Democratic Republic of the Congo, South of the Congo River / Number of _Species: Undiÿ[inguishable from distance - about three or four Deseril0tion of Habitat: The enclosure where the chimps were kept wasn't as large as the enclosure for gorillas, but it was pretty tall and had grilling on all four sides. There was a large leafless tree in the center with other small ones on the ends and similar to the gorilla or the orangutan cages it had ropes attached for the chimps to swing and locomote. On the far left of the cage there was a place/where the food and water for the chimps was kept. Since the cage was tall enough, it had a wo9den box shaped house most likely for the babies or nursing mothers. General Description: The bonobos didn't seem as large as the gorillas or the orangutans. The males were medium sized, about a hundred pounds in weight while the females were relatively smaller than the males. Even if there were young ones in the cage they didn't seem to come out of the wooden house at 11 am. The males and the females both had black face, ears, palms and / soles of feet. Their bodies were covered with long and fine black hair. The hair on their heads were parted in the center. Uÿike the gorillas and the orangutans, the chimps had whiskers on the side which seem long and thick as well. Their locomotion style was similar to the gorillas as well: they used their knuckles for walking, also known as quadrupedal motion. They have "14 reported vocalizations" (San Diego Zoo Library 2009). Third Observation: Preferred method of observation: ad libitum Min Behaviour Swinging Jumping Looking for Food Eating Code isw j i!' (// Description A chimp that seems to be a female swings right out of the wooden house and uses the ropes to commute to the big tree in the center. At the same time a male chimp is seen to jump off from the large center tree and on the ground. The same male chimp that previously jumped off the tree is recorded to search for food that it might be interested in. The male chimp fmally stops searching the dirt for food and finds insects that it starts to chew on. Even though these little critters serve as a very small portion of their diet, they can serve as a ready to eat snack.

5 Locomote Eating/Drinking L E/D The feynale chimp is spotted as she commutes to the far left side #f the cage where all the food and drinks axe kept, and sty to eat something. Since, the view is blocked by the large centgr tree; it's undistinguishable what she's actually eating. The fe94ale chimp sits down on the ground near the food area ÿ6ra couple of minutes and eats and drinks to her 15 Jumping J content. The male chimp is now seen to jump across the ropes to all the way to the place where the wooden house is located and swings right into it and disappears.

6 Works Cited/Useÿ Renn, Susan C.P. Zoo Field Trip for Ethograms Web. 17 April < abs/week2_stuff/zoo_ pdf>. San Diego Zoo Library. Bonobo or Pygmy Chimpanzee, Panpaniseus April < San Diego Zoo Library. Orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus. July Web. 16 April < San Diego Zoo Library Western Gorilla, Gorilla gorilla gorilla. July Web. 16 April <