Self-actualizing Orangutans
This was an interesting read in the Atlantic a couple of months ago: Captive Orangutans Are Curious (But Wild Ones Are Not)
There are two passages from the article that capture the difference in behavior between wild and captive orangutans that has apparently observed and tested: “To test orangutans, one of van Schaik’s team members, Sofia Forss, built fake orangutan nests in the Sumatran canopy. She then filled them with items that the apes would never have seen before—a Swiss flag, plastic fruit, and even an orangutan doll. Footage from motion-sensitive cameras revealed that wild orangutans walked around the items for months. Only two adolescents ever actually touched the unfamiliar items. When another team member, Caroline Schuppli, repeated the same experiment in several zoos, she got completely different results. Within minutes, the orangutans had wrecked the nests.”
The article then goes on to describe the different ways in which this behavior has been tested and how wild orangutans are just less ‘curious’ and only ‘innovate’ by accident. By contrast: “The same isn’t true for captive orangutans. One group, which was housed on an island in the middle of a river, invented 18 new ways of getting water or extracting items from it, resulting in this famous photo of an orangutan appearing to fish with a stick. Most of these behaviors had never been seen in the wild, and were unusual for a species that normally avoids flowing water.”
The zoologists think they have an explanation for this. Again, from the article: “In captivity, orangutans experience a safe and stable environment, without the constant distractions of hunger and predators. That gives them the time and opportunity to explore, and such explorations, far from leading to a sticky end, are actively rewarded with food and other treats. They also encounter humans, who become trusted role models in the way that the orangutans’ parents do in the wild.”
As a result of this orangutans who begin exploring early in their life show better problems-solving skills later. This ‘captivity bias’ towards exploration and better problem-solving has also been noticed in hyenas, birds, monkeys and other animals.
As I got to the end of this article, I thought, this is just like in humans — ensure physiological security, nurture psychological safety, provide trusted role models and see children grow into their full creative, intellectual and social potential. The only thing is, for us humans, this doesn’t happen in captivity. Other than that we are not that different.
Apollo's Minion 
Comments