Lion Behavior Nature Journal Entry
Each student will spend 2 days working with lions at ALERT. Each student will be responsible for 2
detailed sketches in their nature journal associated with observations they have made over their two
days working with lions. These sketches must be accompanied by extremely detailed descriptions
explaining what they saw, what events led up to the behavior, the purpose of the behavior, and the
result of the behavior.
Below are some common lion behaviors you may see during your observations. Since you are not
experts you will have to use context clues to determine what the behavior might signify.
Tactile Communication: head rubbing (greeting), social licking (bonding), anal sniffing
(identification)
Visual Communication: facial expressions (aggressive threat, defensive threat, relaxed, relaxed
open-mouth, alert, yawning, grimace, tense open-mouth, bared teeth), body postures (stalking walk,
crouching walk, crouch, strut, head-low, rolled on back), tail pointing/flicking
Vocalizations: puffing, purring, humming, roaring, woofing, growling, coughing, snarling, hissing
Play: solitary play (with own body or object), social play (chasing, wrestling, pawing, stalking and
rushing)
Make sure that you thoroughly describe what you actually saw. It may involve a single complex
behavior (a hunt for example) or it may be a string of simple behaviors that you observed over an hour.
Regardless you must present meticulous descriptions. It may be best to jot down notes while you are
observing and make rough sketches and then go back when you have more time and draw more
finished sketches and produce a fittingly detailed description. If actions were involved that cannot be
captured in a single sketch, feel free to produce a series of sketches that relay the actions. The aim of
this exercise is more to observe than it is to explain. You must offer a proposed explanation for the
behaviors but it would take weeks working with these lions to produce refined explanations of these
behaviors. Lion sketches are included to give you an idea of how to capture behaviors. I expect much
more detailed descriptions than the captions on these sample sketches.
Primate Behavior Labs
1.Animal Identification: Learning Faces and Bodies – 15 to 20 minutes observation
During this lab students will choose a single chimpanzee and study them in great detail. The student
must learn to recognize the individuality of this animal and record basic information (sex, approximate
age, size, etc.) as well distinguishing characteristics about this chimpanzee (blemishes, scars,
temperament, etc.). Aspects to consider while observing your individual include:
*overall dimension; differences in sizes of specific regions or areas; hair coat length,
uniformity, color; skin color, patterning, scars; limb, hand, or foot damage; ear coloration, ear
notches, any facial markings (freckles, hair ruffling, etc.)
Once you have minutely studied the individual ask a keeper for additional information about the animal.
Complete the “animal identification worksheet” and write up any additional information in the margins
of the worksheet. You should now be able to identify that single individual by site and distinguish them
from other chimpanzees. You will need to hand in your completed worksheet with additional
information written on the margins or the back.
2.The Ethogram: A Basic Behavior Inventory – 2+ hours observation
An ethogram is a catalogue or inventory of all behaviours or actions exhibited by an animal. While a
complete ethogram often takes hundreds of hours of observation to complete, a decent approximation of
the range of behaviors exhibited by an individual can be achieved in a couple of hours. In this lab you
will select a single individual chimpanzee. Make sure this individual will be visible for at least 2 hours
and choose a time when the animal will be moderately active so you have something to record. Observe
the subject for at least 2 hours, recording all activities that individual engages in during that time. Each
activity need only to be recorded once. The goal is to produce a list of the activities engaged in by this
individual. Make sure that when you name the activities (sleeping, eating, grooming, picking at bark,
etc.) that there is as little overlap between activity categories as possible. You must also produce a list of
detailed descriptions of each behavior (your formal definition) that takes into account the diagnostic
features that separate each behavior from the others. You must avoid using the name of the activity in the
defintion. For example, don't define sleeping as “the activity of sleeping” but instead something more
descriptive such as “remaining in a relaxed posture with closed eyes, regular breathing, and apparent
unconsciousness”. You will need to hand in a labeled list of your observed activities with definitions.
3.The Behavior Profile: A Comparative Study (baboon + chimpanzee) – 2 hours observation total
This lab is intended to compare the frequencies of behaviors between species (and in this case, between
enclosures as well). Eight behaviors have been selected (locomoting, resting, feeding, scanning,
aggressive, peaceful, grooming, sexual act) for this study. In this lab we will compare the behaviors of
baboons at Victoria Falls with the behaviors of chimpanzees in 3 of the enclosures at Chimfunshi. For
each group you will spend 30 minutes observing the ENTIRE group (not individuals) and record all
occurrences of the onset or beginning of each of the behaviors taking place. Behaviors that are
continuing are only counted once. Each time you see the onset of one of the listed behaviors place a tick
mark in the appropriate box. You will need to hand in your completed table and a one page written
explanation on the back of the table detailing the differences you saw and possible explanations.
4. Time Budget: A State Behavior Duration Exercise – 3 hours observation
This lab concentrates on what chimpanzees are doing with their time. You will observe a small group (3
to 5) of chimpanzees for at least 3 hours continuously. During this time you will record the total time
you see individuals in the group engaging in 5 activities (resting, moving, feeding, socializing, and
other). On the data sheet abbreviate the categories (R,M,F,S,O) and write the onset time for that
behavior. You will be able to calculate the total duration of a particular behavior by taking the difference
between the onset time of the first behavior and the onset time of the second behavior. On the back of
the data sheet write a one page report detailing your findings and an explanation of why the time budget
was portioned out the way it was. You will need to hand in the data table and a description on the back.
5.Focal Animal Sampling: Intensive Study of Behavior – 20 minutes observation
During this lab you will spend 20 minutes observing a single individual and that single individual only.
This is called a “focal follow”. During this focal follow you will record everything that animal does as
well as everything that happens to that animal. Focal follows are designed to be rigorous so you should
always be recording what your subject is doing...even if they are just “staring off into space”. You ignore
all other chimpanzees unless they are acting on your subject. Because of time limits you will only do
one focal follow. Normally, 10 or more hours-worth of focal follows are collected before the data are
analyzed. This lab is designed to give you experience in focal follows. Use the ethogram you created in
lab 2 as a starting point for the possible behaviors you might see. Complete this lab in groups of 2 (but
do not speak to your partner) with both of you concentrating on the same animal (collecting duplicate
data) so that you will be able to compare results for the next lab. For this lab you will need to hand in a
list of behavioral descriptions from your 20 minute focal follow. You should have a lot of notes from
your focal follow.
6.Inter-Observer Reliability Testing: Two observers, one truth
The basic idea behind this lab is to test how closely two different observers record the same event. Work
with your partner from the previous lab. Compare your focal follow results and calculate your
coefficient of reliability (R ).
R = # of same behavior recordings / (total number of behaviors recorded by both observers / 2)
Report your R value, describe what sources of inter-observer error you can think of, explain why it might
be important to quantify inter-observer error, and suggest ways to remedy the situation. You should hand
in a one page report detailing the above.
7.Fecal Analysis: Washing and Examination for Diet
For this lab you must have the handlers collect a fecal sample from the enclosure for you. Once the fecal
sample is in-hand you will wash it through a screen so that any larger pieces of vegetation and seeds
within the fecal sample remain. Once the remains are dry you will sort them by species. Try to identify
as many of the vegetation pieces and seeds as possible (ask a handler for help). Sort the seeds into
broken and not broken by species to determine the percentage of seeds per species that are likely to be
viable after digestion. You will need to hand in a one page report containing a list of food items found as
well as viable seed percentages for each species. Elaborate on the chimpanzees' diet based on what you
have learned about what they are fed, what you have seen them foraging, and the results of the fecal
analysis. Discuss the wider implications of the seed viability study. Do certain species tend to make it
out of the chimpanzee gut versus others?
Animal_Identification:__Learning_Faces_and_Bodies_Worksheet
Observer:
Location:
SubjectID Code:
Age Grade: Old Adult
Age Today:
Date:
Species:
Group:
Sex M F
Familiar Name:
PrimeAdult YoungAdult Subadult Juvenile
Infant One Infant Two Infant Three
Birth Date:
Mother:
Coloration: BodyHair:
HeadHair:
Scarsand Damage: Ears:
Social Rankin SexedHierarchy:
Other Morphological
Subject ID:____________
BodySkin:
Face:
Head:
in Lineage:
Other Social
Ear:
Perineum:
Limbs:
Lineage:
CheckSheetFor BehavioralProfile
Observer:
Date:
SampleDuration:
Location:
Species1:
Species2:
Species3:
Species4:
Behavior
Locomoting
Resting
Feeding
Scanning
Aggressive
Peaceful
Grooming
SexualAct
Time:
Species1
Species2
Species3
Species4
CHECKSHEETFORTIMEBUDGET
Observer:
Date:
SubjectGroup:
# in group:
Start Time:
Time
GroupComposition:
Subject 1
Subject 2
Subject 3
Subject 4
Subject 5
Carbon Sequestration Lab
Anthropogenic activities have led to a build-up of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere. This rate
of increase of carbon dioxide is unprecedented over the last million years (and possibly longer). The
strengthening greenhouse effect is leading to climate disruptions in some parts of the globe that reduce
the sustainability of current settlement patterns. Currently some organizations (such as UN-REDD) are
experimenting with paying land holders to NOT cut down their forests and woodlands, thus
sequestering the carbon in the trees and not releasing it to the atmosphere. In order to make these
payments, REDD needs to know approximately how much carbon is sequestered in the forests and
woodlands in question. Your task is to conduct carbon accounting activities throughout Kasanka NP to
determine the carbon per unit area in different forest/woodland types (mushitu, miombo, chipya,
mateshe).
PLOT SETUP: Pound a stake firmly into the soil, with at least 50 cm aboveground. Extend eight 30-m ropes
to 30m from the plot center. Mark a perfectly straight distance of 30m from the plot center to the plot edge with
flagging tape. The ropes must be straight, and the “wedges” created must be of equal size. Within each
“wedge,” measure all live and dead trees/lianas/palms ≥ 10 cm in diameter.
Flagging at exactly 30 m
from plot center
Rope in a perfectly straight
line
Stake to mark plot center
STEM MEASUREMENT
Inside the plot or outside? Trees and palms are included if greater than 50% of the roots/base are inside the
plot, while lianas are included if they cross the “plane” at 1.3 m above the ground – regardless of whether their
roots are inside or outside the plot.
Where to measure? For trees and palms, measure the diameter at 1.3 m height as the straight line distance along
the trunk, even if it is leaning or bent. For lianas measure the diameter at 1.3 m from the ground.
Mark all stems after measurement. The stem should be marked with chalk by the measurer after the
measurement has been recorded.
Alive or dead? All stems should be treated as alive if the cambium beneath the bark is alive. Many are
deciduous so check carefully.
Fallen trees: Fallen trees flat on the ground, even if still alive, should be ignored.
Leaning trees: Measure as pictured:
Dead trees: In addition to diameter, the height of all dead trees
should be measured mechanically with a clinometer
Broken trees: A height estimate should also be made for all trees
with broken trunks even if very short/small
Summary
The following details should be recorded for each individual ≥ 10 cm:
1. Number of the stem (as a reference) and identity to genus. Include identity to species if known. If genus
is absolutely unknown, record family and growth form (tree, palm, liana).
2. Diameter at reference height, generally 1.3 m.
3. Height of dead trees and palms, and those with broken trunks
4. Notes. Example notes: d = dead stem; b = crown or stem breakage – note height of break point; Record
copious notes! More is better.
Allometric Equation
Experimental work has determined equations that relate the total woody biomass of a tree (kg) to the dbh and the
height. One such equation for the miombo is as follows:
X = 0.1 * DBH^1.916 * H^0.74
where: DBH = diameter at breast height (cm); X = stem + root biomass (kg); H = tree height (m)
A reasonable assumption is that 50% of this biomass will be pure carbon. Calculate the kg's of carbon in your
plots.
Soil Assessment
In addition to tree carbon
there is a a lot of carbon in
the soil. While we do not
have a good method to
quantify soil carbon in the
field we can qualitatively
assess it via soil cores.
Soil cores will be taken
within each plot and the
depths of soil horizons will
be measured. Use the
attached soil texture sheet
to determine soil types and
pay close attention to
horizon boundaries.
You will need to hand in a
report detailing the
differences in carbon
density in different
woodland/forest types.
Make sure you mention
both the tree data and the
soil data. Also explain
why you are seeing these
differences. You will also
need to hand in your data
collection sheets. Each
student will need to show
their ability to measure
tree biomass individually
to an instructor.
Soil Texture By Feel Flow Chart
Start
Place approximately two teaspoons of
soil in your palm. Add a few drops of
water and kneed soil to break down
all the aggregates Soil is at proper
consistency when it feels plastic and
moldable, like moist putty.
Add dry soil to
soak up water
Yes
Yes
Does the soil
remain in a ball
when squeezed?
Is the soil too
dry?
No
Is the soil too
wet?
No
No
Sand
Yes
Place ball of soil between thumb and forefinger, gently pushing the soil
with your thumb, squeezing it upward into a ribbon. Form a ribbon of
uniform thickness and width. Allow the ribbon to emerge and extend
over forefinger, breaking from its own weight. Does the soil form a
ribbon?
Loamy
Sand
No
Yes
Does soil make a
weak ribbon < 1"
long before it
breaks?
No
Does soil make a
medium ribbon
1-2" long before it
breaks?
No
Does soil make a
strong ribbon > 2"
long before it
breaks?
Excessively wet a small pinch of soil in your palm and rub it with your forefinger.
HI
Does soil
feel very
gritty?
%
S
A
N
D
Yes
Sandy
Loam
No
Neither
gritty nor
smooth?
LO
Yes
Sandy
Clay
Loam
No
Yes
Loam
Neither
gritty nor
smooth?
Yes
Silt
Loam
Does soil
feel very
smooth?
Does soil
feel very
gritty?
Yes
Sandy
Clay
Yes
Clay
Yes
Silty
Clay
No
Yes
Clay
Loam
No
No
Does soil
feel very
smooth?
Does soil
feel very
gritty?
Neither
gritty nor
smooth?
No
Yes
% CLAY
Silty
Clay
Loam
Does soil
feel very
smooth?
HI