The device that the meerkats will look at curiously for ten weeks is designed in the shape of a box with two sliders on opposite sides. Through the holes in the device, animals can smell the mealworms hidden in it. “If one animal pulls one slider, while another does it at the same time on both sides, the part carrying the reward falls,” explains scientist Jonas Versbeek. “So the collaboration is paying off in this research.”
Learn this event behavior step by step. “First we taught the animals that they had to pull the device to get the reward. Then we introduced the next crucial step: only if two animals pulled different sliders at the same time would they get the reward. Then we added an additional difficulty: a small rubber band is now placed between both sliders to provide resistance, so that the animals actually have to exert force before releasing the reward.
Two groups of meerkats and a fox mongoose live at Antwerp Zoo, and a zebra mongoose lives at Blankendael Zoo. These are excellent species for studying complex cooperation mechanisms. “We have already seen different types of behavior in meerkats in their natural environment where they are already working together in one way or another. Just think of the typical image of a meerkat poking up and alerting the group to impending danger.” Meertails also have a complex society with different connections between animals, where they also practice “total maternal care.” This means that the female will take care of the young of other animals. We know from research that the more maternal care there is, the greater the opportunity for cooperation. So we’re talking about prosocial behavior, which is behavior in which you favor others rather than yourself.
Scientists carefully monitor the meerkats’ reactions for ten weeks. “Every working day we place the device with the animals for an hour. We carefully record whether cooperation occurs, but we also look beyond that. What factors influence their responses? Which animals unite faster? Are there individuals who want to control the unit? And not giving others a chance, or is there someone who stays away when others are around?
In addition, the device also provides enrichment for the animals. “Caregivers can continue to use the device to provide food to the meerkats in a different and innovative way. Thanks to the device, the animals have to search longer for mealworms and make more efforts to obtain their food. Just like in nature.”
The study of cooperation in meerkats, or meerkats, fits into a larger comparative study underway at the Science Center at Antwerp Zoo and Blankendael Zoo. Scientists want to uncover the “regulatory mechanisms” of cooperation. Therefore, they search for processes or factors that ensure that a certain behavior or phenomenon is maintained or controlled in a certain way. It is about the basic rules or principles that influence behavior and ensure that it is directed in a certain direction.
“In our comparative studies, it is important that we conduct these collaborative experiments in different animal species. In this way we gain more and better insight into the evolution of social behavior and the necessary thinking processes that accompany it.
