About this Zone

    Hippopotamus

    Hippopotamus by BS Thurner Hof

    Bee

    Bee by Braboowi

Animal behaviour is all about what animals are doing and why they are doing it. People have been watching animals for a very long time.

Thousands of years ago, people watched how animals behaved to help with hunting and taming animals. These days, lots of people like watching how animals behave for different reasons.

Scientists who study animal behaviour try to work out why animals are behaving in a particular way. There are certain common ‘problems’ that animals need to solve, such as eating, drinking, protecting themselves from predators and reproduction. Much of animal behaviour is based on solving these problems.

Some animals behave in very interesting ways; from bees doing a special dance to show their hive-mates where the best flowers are, to hippos using the smell of their dung to attract a mate. Yuck.

There are loads of different animal behaviours, some stranger than others. Some people even believe that if we study the ways animals behave, we can learn more about the way humans behave!