Why can otters juggle as skilled as a circus artist?

The otter's behavior of juggling a rock as a circus artist often attracts the attention of many when it comes to this intelligent animal. Recently, scientists have found the reason behind.

Going to the zoo, we often praise and admire in awe when encountering skillful rock juggles like the otter's professional circus artist. They can stand or lie on their back while juggling stones excitedly.

In fact, few people know that this is the otters' basic behavior , the skill they need to get food from clams and mussels.

Otter juggling stones when hungry.

Scientists have recently provided an explanation for this unique behavior of otters. Scientists from Exeter University conducted the behavior studies of 44 Asian small clawed otters and 6 fluffy otters in captivity.

While the food of Asian small clawed otters is usually crabs and shellfish, fluffy otters prefer to eat fish.

The researchers used a number of challenges before drawing conclusions. They used tennis balls with holes to hide the food in it, or bottles with loose lids, and two puzzle blocks stacked on top of the food.

Allison says the designs mimic otter's foraging behavior. For example, the otter must find a way to separate the bricks to get food similar to the actual behavior of clam and clam breaking.

Accordingly, research results show that otters juggle more before each meal when they are hungry . Young otter and older otter juggle more than the adult otter are raising.

Lead author of the study, Mari-Lisa Allison, of the University of Exeter, said the main motivation for the action was to show hunger and excitement when seeing good food, but the ultimate cause for this behavior is still a mystery.

Mari-Lisa Allison said: "Our most important finding is that the otters juggle more often before being fed . Therefore, this is definitely a sign of hunger. more to investigate extended causes of behavior ".

In addition, according to scientists from the University of Exeter, rock juggling can help young otter learn the skills needed to get food from prey such as clams, oysters, etc.

For older otters, that might just be one way to keep their brains active

"We hypothesized that otters perform behaviors to develop food-seeking skills. When they grow up, reach maturity and start breeding, time," said Allison . Their energy is devoted to parenting, so they don't play as much as they used to do.In the old otter, they no longer have the responsibility of being a parent to their child so they have time and energy to play. , elderly otter perform behaviors to exercise the brain, prevent aging ".

The research, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

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