Russell, Julia;
(1990)
Is object play in young carnivores practice for predation?
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
This study aimed to investigate whether object play should be categorized as 'play' or immature predation, and to discover if this 'object play' functioned as practice for predation. In zoo animals parallels were demonstrated between predatory behaviour and object play Experiments found that prey-like characteristics (smell, texture, movement) increased play with objects. Enrichment studies showed that object play helped to develop skills such as tracking movement, choosing prey-like objects to play with, and killing substitute prey. It was concluded that 'object play' was not a form of play but of predation, and that it was a possible way to acquire hunting skills.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Is object play in young carnivores practice for predation? |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Thesis digitised by ProQuest |
| Keywords: | Psychology; Animal behavior |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10107726 |
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