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Fairfield University Students Uncover Animal Secrets at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo
Fairfield University students are getting incredible hands on experience observing and recording courtship and mating behaviors of the white-naped crane pair at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo.
Vertebrate Zoology lab students gather on Zoo grounds each Tuesday for four different behavioral observation studies, with other students working on an ongoing RIZE research project with spider monkeys. Each spring since 2013 (with a one-year interruption due to Covid), Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo has welcomed Dr. Byun and students from her Vertebrate Zoology lab course to observe the day-to-day interactions of selected species.
This year, in addition to the white-naped crane study, lab students are observing a new female red wolf‘s introduction to the Zoo’s male; big cat vocalizations as indicators of estrus, part of a larger project focused on reconstructing the ancestral vocalizations of big cats; and identifying causes of trout aggression in fingerlings prior to their release in wild waterways. An ongoing study of the Zoo’s spider monkey troop includes introducing an iPad as cognitive enrichment, a first for New World monkeys.
Prior studies helped to ease conflict in the prairie dog colony with the discovery that the colony had fractured into two competing coteries. In another study, when Zoo staff noticed that the female anteater exhibited anxiety when exposed to sounds from lawn maintenance equipment, a RIZE research student found similarities in the acoustics to that of a baby anteater, a sound female anteaters would naturally be attuned to.
The public is invited to see the students present their findings on Wednesday, April 26, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at Fairfield University in the Library Multimedia Room (NYS 101 Auditorium).
The RIZE program is a community engaged learning program, with research projects selected by Zoo staff, based on Zoo questions and needs. With resources such as time and money often limited, RIZE students carry out projects that are important but have yet to be explored. Projects can last anywhere from a single semester to several years in duration. One of the current studies involves overseeing a Cognitive Enrichment Study, the first of its kind to be explored with New World monkeys.
Beyond the hours spent watching the animals and filling out ethograms, a record of their behaviors, there are high-tech components to the tasks. The big cat research team utilizes a “continuous capture” audio recorder. To process and analyze thousands of hours of recordings, Dr. Byun’s colleagues from Fairfield University’s School of Engineering and Georgia State University developed an A.I. program called FelidDetect. Next for that project is developing other programs and models to study these calls which will require collaboration with colleagues at Georgia State University as well as the Yale School of Music.
Insights into animal behavior help Zoo professionals understand more about the family of animals in their care, and in turn, creates a better environment for saving endangered species.
About Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo: Get Your Ticket to Adventure! Connecticut’s only zoo, celebrating its 101st year, features 350 animals representing primarily North and South American and Northern Asian species. Guests won’t want to miss our Amur tiger and leopards, maned wolves, Mexican gray wolves, and red wolves. Other highlights include our Spider Monkey Habitat, the prairie dog exhibit, and the Pampas Plain with giant anteaters and Chacoan peccaries. Guests can grab a bite from the Peacock Café and eat in the Picnic Grove. As an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and participant in its Species Survival Plan (SSP) programs, the non-profit Zoo is committed to the preservation of endangered animals and wild habitats. Tickets must be purchased on the Zoo’s website at beardsleyzoo.org.
