Ethology is the study of animal behavior. It involves the objective study of animals and man from a biological aspect with emphasis on species specific behavior, its function and evolution. Another definition of ethology might be the study of an organism's reaction to its environment. Ethology as a science began in the early 1930's.

Animal behavior is of critical importance to the zookeeper, and behavioral awareness assists the keeper in doing a better job. The better you know the animals the better you can care for them.

The major difference between ethology and psychology, the study of human behavior, is that ethology avoids attributing human characteristics to the animal. We should not be such egotists as to imagine that only humans have evolved certain behavioral characteristics. Play activity, curiosity, fear and aggression are common to many mammals as well as humans. To use ethology in managing and caring for zoo animals you need to know certain basic tenets.

These include:

1) Typical behavior: A keeper must recognize typical behavior patterns in order to "read" the animal and detect abnormal behavior. Take some time to observe your animals at various times of the day. Different species very often have distinct typical behavior, even when taxonomically closely related. For example lions typically form family groups whereas tigers are solitary animals except during mating and rearing young. Just because closely related species have similar anatomy and physiology does not assure common typical behavior. Be aware that although animals provide olfactory clues, auditory signals and activity patterns most, or at least much, of their communication consists of body posture and position (see figures on the preceding pages) that we call body language.

2) Unconditional and Conditioned Reflexes: Unconditioned reflexes are automatic, unlearned reactions such as blinking when an object approaches the eye or pulling a limb back from a hot surface. Conditioned reflexes are indirect reactions associated with experience or knowledge. Many examples of this reflex develop in zoo animals, especially revolving around feeding routines, where animals become accustomed to expect food in a particular place at a given time.

3) Instinct: Instinctual behavior includes inherited "programmed" behavior patterns. Animals inherit these patterns and follow them without conscious knowledge of their purpose. Be aware that they may develop in different stages of growth. Territoriality for example is typically absent in the young and develops with maturity. These behavior patterns are often species specific. We believe the behavior of some groups, snakes for example, is nearly completely instinctual whereas other groups such as monkeys learn most of their behavior within a social system.

4) Stimulus and Response: Animals are programmed genetically to respond in a certain way to certain stimuli. The central nervous system has a selective mechanism, typically activated by stimuli having meaning to a particular species. The "key", or sign stimulus, and the response it engenders fit together like a lock and key. Stimuli are species-specific; only a particular set of stimuli is of significance to each species and that species responds to those stimuli with typical reactions. "Releasers" is the name given to animal structures or responses that send or emit key stimuli that trigger a response in another individual.

5) Reproductive Behavior: Reproductive behavior is usually quite complex and may involve a chain of releasers and responses. This is an important way of controlling hybridization in nature. Where geographic barriers keep species out of contact in nature sign stimuli (for reproductive activity) may not vary enough to prevent interbreeding when animals are brought together in zoos.

6) Expressional Behavior: The primary means of communication among humans consists of vocalizations. This is supplemented by body language. In most mammals vocalizations only supplement such body language as motion, pose, coloration and posture. As a zookeeper you must rely on observation to interpret an animal's mental state or intention. Without knowledge of the behavior of a particular species we tend to interpret animal behavior on human terms. This often leads to inaccurate observations and can precipitate dangerous events. The sometimes-violent precopulatory behavior of rhinos or mink or the copulatory neck bites by carnivores may be mistaken for aggression.

A wide variety of expressional behaviors exist between species, between sexes of the same species and even between adults, adolescents and juveniles. The preceding pages show examples of expressional behavior in mammals, birds and reptiles.