![]() When it comes to the news that elephants and parrots are more likely to respond favorably to human visitors' presence, it is notable that both species are extremely intelligent. "Controlled experimental setups might help to more clearly disentangle the range of factors which may impact on animal behaviour in zoos, from the true impact of visitors on animals." "Although there has been an increase, the majority of work is opportunistic, looking at numbers of visitors and comparing that using correlational methods to animal behaviour," the authors explain. In addition to the fact that there are not many studies about non-primate species reacting to zoo visitors' presence, the authors noted another limitation of their study: The fact that any so-called "experiments" on how zoo animals react to humans are by their very nature opportunistic, and therefore by definition not controlled. Primates are generally found to be upset by large groups of noisy visitors, and primates with smaller body sizes similarly tended to be more human-averse than larger primates. "Studies have reported changes in primate behaviour in response to visitors, with visitors being recognised as a stimulant for some primates but a negative stressor for others," the authors write. "Controlled experimental setups might help to more clearly disentangle the range of factors which may impact on animal behaviour in zoos, from the true impact of visitors on animals."Īlthough the study focused on 252 non-primate species, the scientists did also discuss what other studies have found about primate reactions to zoo visitors. Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter The Vulgar Scientist. The positive valence recorded in this review could thus be a product of birds trying to gain attention from and seeking interactions with zoo visitors, as was recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic." Elephants and parrots were alone among the various animal species that reacted positively to human visitors' presence more often than can be attributed to chance.īy contrast, animals like scaled reptiles and frogs behaved in a way that the authors found "cryptic," although they noted that the animals may have clammed up around humans because "visitors could potentially be perceived as a threat." There was less ambiguity in interpreting the behaviors of other animals, though, the ones for whom the authors found that human visitors had a "negative impact." These included flightless birds, odd-toed ungulates (such as horses and rhinoceroses), even-toed ungulates (such as camels and hippopotamuses), ostriches, marsupials (such as kangaroos and wallabies) and hedgehogs. Similarly parrots ( Psittaciformes) reacted positively to human visitors because "parrots are highly intelligent birds who are known for their need for interaction and attention, and for their desire to interact with visitors in zoo environments. ![]() ![]() It would be expected that zoo visitors would be drawn to elephants, as a large flagship species." Overall, the animals studied across the various papers found that out of 302 interpretations of reactions to visitors' behavior, "53% were neutral, 21% were negative, 21% were 'unclear' and only 4% were considered to be positive."Įlephants ( Proboscidea) were among the handful of animals that seemed to positively respond to the presence of people, with the authors writing that "Proboscidea are the largest land mammals, and so this could have led to a reduced effect of zoo visitors. While many of the aggregated studies had small sample sizes, the authors were able to boil down their behavior into three categories of animal reactions to human visitors' presence: Positive, featuring "increased interest in visitors visitor areas, working to gain attention from visitors or moving to be closer to visitors" negative, in which the visitor acts as "a source of stress to the animals, which is usually evidenced by responses such as an increase in visitor avoidance," or neutral, which is what it sounds like: no visible behavioral or physiological change to human visitors' presence. ![]() "Secrets of the Elephants" reveals their uncanny ability to grieve and empathize
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