7 \ Hypothesis, Operational Definitions & Ethogram Hypothesis: Captive male chimpanzees are more likely to engage in social behaviors with female chimpanzees than male chimpanzees in the wild. Since research shows that females are more likely to engage in social behaviors in wild environments, males in captive environments may lead to increased interactions with other group members. Chimpanzees in the wild are not normally monogamous and do not engage much with their offspring, which leads to less parental care. Since these chimpanzees will be in an enclosed space with less females to mate with, they will tend to be more engaged with a specific female, leading to increased parental care. (Mitani, 2009). Operational Definitions: Sampling method: focal sampling Data collection method: 3 minute intervals; 1-0 time sampling Behavior Abbreviation Definition 1. Eating habits [EH 1 or 2] Eating, drinking or searching for food. 1=Eating, drinking or searching for food alone. 2=Eating, drinking or searching for food with others. 2. Grooming [GO OR GS] Touching, licking or intense visual inspection of skin. GO=Grooming another individual by using hands or lips to part another individual’s hair. GS=Grooming ones-self by using their own hands to part their own hair (Proctor, et. al., 2011). 3. Social Play [SP 1, 2 or 3] Affiliative interaction of playful gestures. 1=Participate in solitary play, such as somersaults, pirouettes, tossing and tumbling with an object, and swinging in a tree. 2=Participate in dyadic play. Playful interactions between two individuals, such as rubbing, biting, tickling, wrestling or chasing one another. 3=Participate in larger group play, same as 2, except with 3 or more individuals (Lonsdorf, et. al., 2014). 4. Parental Care [PC 1 or 2] Caring of the youth. 1=Male more responsible for caring of the youth. 2=Female more responsible for caring of the youth. 5. Aggression [AG 1 or 2] Individual performs an aggressive or submissive behavior. 1=No aggression or low aggression. Does not include physical contact with one another. Charging displays, such as piloerection and branch shaking. 2=Moderate aggression with higher levels of physical contact with one another. Chasing and attack displays, such as hitting, kicking, pounding and dragging (Muller & Wrangham, 2004). 6. Sexual Behavior [SB 1 or 2] Individual interacts in sexual behavior, either alone or with other individuals. 1=Mounting. 2=Masturbation. 3=Copulation. (Chelluri, et. al., 2012). 7. Vocalizations [VO 1, 2 or 3] Communication behaviors, such as socializations and greetings. 1=Barking. 2=Pant-grunts (bobbing or crouching). 3=Screaming (Laporte & Zuberbuhler). 8. Traveling [TR 1 or 2] Movement from one place to another. 1=riding ventrally; infant clings to the belly of the mother, grabbing on to hair. 2=riding dorsally; infant sits/lays on mother’s back. (Lonsdorf, et. al., 2014). 9. Caretaker Interactions [CI 1 or 2].

1. 7
Hypothesis, Operational Definitions & Ethogram
Hypothesis: Captive male chimpanzees are more likely to
engage in social behaviors with female chimpanzees than male
chimpanzees in the wild.
Since research shows that females are more likely to engage in
social behaviors in wild environments, males in captive
environments may lead to increased interactions with other
group members. Chimpanzees in the wild are not normally
monogamous and do not engage much with their offspring,
which leads to less parental care. Since these chimpanzees will
be in an enclosed space with less females to mate with, they
will tend to be more engaged with a specific female, leading to
increased parental care. (Mitani, 2009).
Operational Definitions:
Sampling method: focal sampling
Data collection method: 3 minute intervals; 1-0 time sampling
Behavior Abbreviation Definition
1. Eating habits [EH 1 or 2] Eating, drinking
or searching for food.
1=Eating, drinking or searching for food alone. 2=Eating,
drinking or searching for food with others.
2. Grooming [GO OR GS] Touching, licking
or intense visual
inspection of skin. GO=Grooming another individual by using
hands or lips to part another individual’s hair. GS=Grooming

2. ones-self by using their own hands to part their own hair
(Proctor, et. al., 2011).
3. Social Play [SP 1, 2 or 3] Affiliative
interaction of playful gestures.
1=Participate in solitary play, such as somersaults, pirouettes,
tossing and tumbling with an object, and swinging in a tree.
2=Participate in dyadic play. Playful interactions between two
individuals, such as rubbing, biting, tickling, wrestling or
chasing one another. 3=Participate in larger group play, same as
2, except with 3 or more individuals (Lonsdorf, et. al., 2014).
4. Parental Care [PC 1 or 2] Caring of the
youth. 1=Male more
responsible for caring of the youth. 2=Female more responsible
for caring of the youth.
5. Aggression [AG 1 or 2] Individual
performs an aggressive or
submissive behavior. 1=No aggression or low aggression. Does
not include physical contact with one another. Charging
displays, such as piloerection and branch shaking. 2=Moderate
aggression with higher levels of physical contact with one
another. Chasing and attack displays, such as hitting, kicking,
pounding and dragging (Muller & Wrangham, 2004).
6. Sexual Behavior [SB 1 or 2] Individual
interacts in sexual behavior,
either alone or with other individuals. 1=Mounting.
2=Masturbation. 3=Copulation. (Chelluri, et. al., 2012).
7. Vocalizations [VO 1, 2 or 3] Communication
behaviors, such as
socializations and greetings. 1=Barking.
2=Pant-grunts (bobbing or crouching). 3=Screaming (Laporte &
Zuberbuhler).

3. 8. Traveling [TR 1 or 2] Movement from
one place to another.
1=riding ventrally; infant clings to the belly of the mother,
grabbing on to hair. 2=riding dorsally; infant sits/lays on
mother’s back.
(Lonsdorf, et. al., 2014).
9. Caretaker Interactions [CI 1 or 2] Interactions, such
as play and feeding,
between the chimpanzee and zoo caretakers. 1=Individual
attends to staff for less than 3 seconds. 2=Individual attends to
staff for more than 3 seconds. (Chelluri, et. al., 2012).
10. Proximity [PR 1, 2 or 3] The closeness of
chimpanzees to one
another.1=sitting alone, not interacting with other chimpanzees.
2=sitting with one other chimpanzee and interacting in social
behaviors. 3=sitting and interacting with a group of
chimpanzees.

4. Ethogram:
START TIME: 12:00 P.M.
Time
Behavior [EH 1 or 2]
Behavior [GO or GS]
Behavior
[SP 1, 2 or 3]
Behavior
[PC 1 or 2]

5. Behavior
[AG 1 or 2]
Behavior
[SB 1 or 2]
Behavior [VO 1, 2 or 3]
Behavior [TR 1 or 2]
Behavior [CI 1 or 2]
Behavior [PR 1, 2 or 3]
3 min
6 min
9 min

6. 12 min
15 min
18 min

7. 21 min
24 min
27 min
30 min

8. 33 min
36 min
39 min

9. 42 min
45 min
48 min

10. 51 min
54 min
57 min

11. 60 min
63 min
66 min
69 min

12. 72 min
75 min
78 min

13. 81 min
84 min
87 min

14. 90 min
93 min
96 min

15. 99 min
102 min
105 min
108 min

16. 111 min
114 min
117 min

17. 120 min
123 min
126 min

18. 129 min
132 min
135 min
138 min

19. 141 min
144 min
147 min

20. 150 min
153 min
156 min

21. 159 min
162 min
165 min

22. 168 min
171 min
174 min
177 min

23. 180 min
References
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and welfare implications of informal interactions between
caretakers and zoo-housed chimpanzees and gorillas. Applied
Animal Behaviour Science, vol. 147, pp. 306-315.
Doi:10.1016/j.applaim.2012.06.008.
Laporte, M., & Zuberbuhler, K. (2010). Vocal greeting behavior
in wild chimpanzee females. Journal of Animal Behaviour, 80,
467-473. Doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2010.06.005.
Lonsdorf, E., Anderson, K., Stanton, M., Shender, M., Heintz,

24. M., Goodall, J., Murray, C. (2014). Boys Will Be Boys: Sex
Differences in Wild Infant Chimpanzee Social Interactions.
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introductory guide.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Matsumoto, T. (2017). Developmental Changes in Feeding
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Implications for Nutritional Independence Long before
Cessation of Nipple Contact. American Journal of Physical
Anthropology, vol. 163, pp. 356–366., doi:10.1002/ajpa.23212.
Mitani, J. (2009). Male Chimpanzees form enduring and
equitable social bonds. Animal Behaviour, 77(3), 633-640.
Doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.11.021.
Muller, N., & Wrangham, W. (2004). Dominance, aggression
and testosterone in wild
chimpanzees: A test of the ‘challenge hypothesis’. Animal
Behaviour, 67(1), 113-123.
Doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.03.013.
Proctor, D., Lambeth, S., Schapiro, S., Brosnan, S. (2011). Male
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