In the wild, animals don’t live and learn. They learn and live. Knowledge equals survival.
Certain knowledge is innate, such as a beaver’s instinctual understanding of how to build a dam or a bird’s to fly. But most knowledge must be learned.
Like humans, the majority of species learn by observing their parents and others of their kind. This is known as social learning, and it’s found across almost all species, whether they walk, fly, or swim. Young orcas learn from their elders the identity of their clan and how to hunt and travel. Land predators such as lions and wolves also learn essential hunting skills this way. Bowerbirds observe older members to learn how to build their unique nests. Chimpanzees learn how to find shelter, care for their young, and find the best food.
Behavioral studies of animals adopted by other species prove the influence and impact of knowledge gleaned through social learning. In one case, a mallard duck raised by loons quickly adopted the behaviors of its foster family. It rode on its parents’ backs and swam underwater—activities mallards aren’t known for—and ate the fish its parents caught for it.
In another example, a group of young rhesus macaques spent five months living with a tribe of stump-tailed macaques. Stump-tailed macaques are known for reconciling disputes amicably, whereas rhesus macaques typically do not. The young rhesus macaques learned reconciliation from their foster family, and they continued the peaceful behavior long after rejoining their own kind.
Many essential life skills are passed from generation to generation through social learning. For example, certain species of whales give birth in the tropics, often fasting for months. They then migrate back to colder waters, where their feeding grounds are located. Their newborns accompany them, learning from their mothers a specific migration route that they will then follow for the rest of their lives. This journey can be remarkably long. Beluga whales, for example, travel more than 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) every year, following ancestral migration routes passed down from mother to child.
Learned life skills ensure survival—of the individual and the species. It’s not uncommon for parents and others in a particular animal group to teach their young through example how to find food or water when it becomes scarce because of drought or other environmental change, how to avoid or ward off predators, and how to adapt to harsh environments, including life-threatening cold and heat. Without this essential education, a young animal’s life would be very short indeed.
Some species actually build upon the collective knowledge of earlier generations to make their lives better. A good example is the homing pigeon, which uses this process to find the most efficient route home. Routes are constantly improved upon to make the journey easier, and this knowledge is passed on to others. In one study, homing pigeons equipped with GPS devices were divided into three groups: birds flying alone, birds that always flew with the same partner, and birds that received new partners about every six flights. During their first few flights all three groups refined their routes, but ultimately only the group in which the most experienced bird in a pair was occasionally swapped continued to improve their path home. The other bird in the pair learned from its more experienced partner’s knowledge and built upon it.
Sometimes chance leads to surprising advances that in turn become an important aspect of social learning. Chimpanzees, for example, are adept at using tools that make their lives a little easier, such as using sticks to probe termite mounds for larvae. The first use of a particular tool was likely a lucky accident, and then it took off once others realized the benefits. Soon parents were teaching their offspring to use tools through example.
Animals also learn through a process known as operant conditioning, in which an animal’s behavior is conditioned by the consequences of its actions. When the consequence is positive, the animal is likely to repeat the behavior, such as when a woodpecker repeatedly returns to a tree it has found to contain a lot of tasty bugs. Similarly, a negative consequence, such as pain, teaches an animal not to repeat a specific behavior. A good example would be when a bear cub gets pricked while attempting to play with a porcupine.
Zoos and aquariums commonly use operant conditioning to train animals to perform certain behaviors. For example, aquariums often use cues such as an object (known as a target) or a sound to encourage fish and other animals to come to a specific location within their habitat, either to be fed or to receive care. Training is reinforced with a reward, typically food, until the animals automatically respond to a specific cue. Likewise, zoos use positive reinforcement to get animals to respond to vocal commands or a sound such as a clicker. Animals can’t be forced into this behavior; they do it because they have learned that something good will happen when they do as requested.
While operant conditioning can be used to teach animals to perform tricks, zoos and aquariums primarily use it to assist in an animal’s health care. Very heavy animals, for example, quickly learn that they will receive a treat when they willingly climb onto a scale or platform—a win-win for both the animals and their caretakers.
Knowledge, both in humans and in other animals, depends on innovators to advance. Someone must move beyond the status quo to discover something new, then pass that new knowledge on to others. This has led to some interesting learned behaviors in animals. In Koshima, Japan, macaques are often seen washing sweet potatoes and other food before they eat it. This behavior was not observed until the early 1950s, when one macaque started washing the sand off its food. Other macaques witnessed the new behavior and started doing it themselves, and it became ingrained within the group.
Another group of Japanese macaques is now famous for swimming in local hot springs during the winter. This wasn’t a natural behavior: the monkeys typically avoided the water until 1963, when a lone macaque walked into the springs to retrieve an apple. It found the warm water soothing and took another dip shortly after. Curious juvenile macaques watched and decided to give the warm water a try themselves. Within months, young macaques were bathing regularly and, more importantly, teaching their young to swim as well. Swimming became so common among the macaques that in 1967 the park where the hot springs are located had to build a special pool just for the macaques so they wouldn’t be bathing with human guests.
Nature proves again and again that the passing on of important knowledge by various means isn’t just a human trait. It occurs within all but the most primitive species and is responsible not only for their survival but for their gradual evolution as well. Without the knowledge of current and previous generations, many animal species would be unable to adapt and flourish. The consequence could be extinction.