lifestyle and methods of feeding

• what is a lifestyle?

  a way in which an animal lives, mainly referring to its given environment
• captive animal:

  An animal that is held in confinement by humans. They are not free to roam and live in their natural environment.
• wild animal:

  An animal that lives in its natural environment and has not been domesticated. It has not been tamed or bred by humans to live with us
• Animals in captivity show different activity budgets to their wild counterparts. They are generally less active, spend less time foraging and show abnormal behaviours. 

  • Enrichment is essential in captivity to prevent stress and abnormal behaviours 
• why do animals feed?

  • Information from internal state of body: blood glucose level
  • Time of day: may feed at dawn and dusk
  • Presence of predators: feeding levels decrease when predators increase
  • Social factors: group feeding in herd/group animals
• what influences how much animals eat?

  • Ability to process food
  • The properties of food
  • Nutrient quality of food
  • Disturbances 
  • Social facilitation
• what is foraging?

  searching across an area for food
• Optimal foraging theory:Animals want to get the most food for the least amount of effort. 
• what is hunting?

  a behaviour involving the pursuit, capture and consumption of prey
• what is browsing?

  where animals consume tender shoots, twigs and leaves of trees and shrubs
• what is grazing?

  where herbivores consume low-growing plants, primarily grass
• what is scavenging?

  where animals consume the remains of dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation.