Derek de Witt

Koko the gorilla was an inspiration to many with her use of sign language. However, her play behavior and its progression as she aged is just as interesting and inspiring.

For humans, play behavior is an important part of our development, both physical and social. This is true even after we have reached maturity, as the skills it provides can diminish with disuse.

While play behavior is often practice for future needs, it can also be a way of facilitating social interaction between individuals. Species with complex social structures can accrue enormous benefits from those systems and play is an excellent way of starting and maintaining social relationships.

Play behavior is often about learning and for many animals, they learn by doing. Play allows them to practice important survival behaviors, like those needed for feeding, with fewer consequences for failure.

Humans aren't the only animals that will engage in play just for the fun of it. While many of the examples we will look at are preparing themselves for adult life, birds like crows and ravens will gladly just enjoy themselves.

Play can often be dismissed by us as unimportant or a waste of time. However, I believe that a look at its benefits for other animals can help remind us of its importance for humans as well.

Sometimes, you need a little bit of help to get a meal. Maybe your prey live in holes that are too small for you to follow in, or have a hard shell that is difficult to break. Certain species have gotten around these obstacles by incorporating tools into their foraging behavior.

It is said that good artists borrow and great artists steal. But they aren't the only ones. A wide variety of animals have developed behaviors for stealing food instead of getting it themselves.

Water birds have developed a variety of foraging behaviors, each of them suited for the particular diet they target. Just by watching which one a species uses, it can tell you a wealth of information about what it eats, where it lives, and how it moves and flies.

A single species will not always have the same kind of diet for its entire lifetime. The needs of an individual shift as it develops and this can lead to changes in diet preferences as it ages. Some of these shifts are small, and others span entirely different food types.