Abstract:
Behavioural activities of mammals mainly have influenced by habitat types, foods, weather
conditions and feeding competitions among individuals. To find out the behavioural patterns and
the variation of behaviours in different time period of a day, months and seasons of Western
Hoolock Gibbon Asiatic Black Bear and Asiatic Jackal
in captivity, the study was conducted at Bangladesh National Zoo. A total of 1648 hours
were spent to collect 6556 scans during October, 2015 and October, 2017. In a day, the captive
Hoolock Gibbon spent 40.54% time in resting, 12.42% in feeding, 17.79% in moving, 5.02% in
grooming, 6.84% in playing and 17.39% time in other behaviour. The adult Gibbons spent more
time (40.57%) in feeding than the sub adult (31.84%) during noon and the sub adult spent more
time (19.20%) in moving than the adults (14.70%) in the afternoon. The captive Gibbons were
more active in summer than the other seasons. The highest allogrooming (32.29% of time spent)
was recorded in afternoon. Feeding was the highest (31.50%) in May and the lowest (20.30%) in
January. The time spent was the highest in resting (31.80%), moving (29.50%) and grooming
(29.40%) in the month of August, April, and December, respectively. The Asiatic Black Bear spent
55.63% time in resting, 16.50% in feeding, 11.55% time in moving, 3.42% in autogrooming and
12.90% in other behaviour. The Asiatic Black Bear spent the highest amount of time (37.34%) in
resting and 38.33% time in feeding in winter but the moving and grooming time were the highest
in summer, 38% and 43.30%, respectively. The highest feeding (30.50%) and resting (31%) time
was recorded in December. The Asiatic Black Bear spent more time in moving (30.50%) but less
time in feeding (17.30%) and resting (19.30%) in May. In a day, the Asiatic Jackal spent 12.52%
time in feeding, 29.29% in moving and 15.43% in resting and 42.76% time in other behaviour.
They spent the highest time in resting (37.33%) and feeding (36.32%) during winter and moving
(38.33%) during rainy season. The highest time investment in feeding (26.75%), resting (26.50%)
and moving (26%) was recorded in January, December and August respectively. The activities
were significantly varied in relation to temperature. Conservation and reintroduction program of
captive animals can be enhanced through the research on the behavioural well-being of captive
animals. Thus, this study can be proved fruitful for the behavioural enrichment and welfare of the
captive zoo animal.
