- Elgin Center
The Elgin Center is a non-profit conservation and animal behavioral research center which performs ethological studies primarily at
Lion Country Safari in Loxahatchee, Florida in theUnited States .The primary focus of the center has been research on the behavior of the park's 26
chimpanzees .Group-specific vocalizations and vocal evolution in chimpanzees
One of the first findings at the center concerned chimpanzee vocalizations. Chimpanzees have been found to have group-specific vocalizations (the structure of chimpanzee calls vary from group to group). This gives evidence that chimpanzee calls are learned rather than genetically inherrited. At Lion Country Safari, the largest chimpanzee group was separated in 2004, with seven of the group going to the
Lincoln Park Zoo inChicago . Two years later, the vocalizations were analyzed and it was determined that the way they were vocalizing was slightly different from their original group - giving evidence that chimpanzee vocalization evolve in much the same way humandialects do. This provides a direct link between chimpanzee vocal communication and human language. [http://www.physanth.org/annmeet/aapa2007/aapa2007abstracts.pdf]Chimpanzee cognition
The center has also performed cognitive studies with the Lion Country Safari chimpanzees. These studies have included the ability of chimpanzees to understand certain mathematical properties (number conservation, fractions, quantity comparisons from memory, etc.), the ability of chimpanzees to discern binary oppositions, and the ability of chimpanzees to understand 2-demensional photographs as representations of real life.
Juvenile play in chimpanzees
The center studies the "play" interactions between juveniles and their peers and juveniles and adults. This study focuses on the way juvenile play acts as a method of transmitting learned adaptations and behaviors within the group. [http://www.elgincenter.org/Elgin%20Center%20Updates/90BD533C-DF9F-4F19-802C-917719626FE5.html] The chimpanzees at Lion Country Safari provide a unique insight into these behaviors because of the complex social groups and naturalistic lifestyle the park showcases them in.
Gibbon Brachiation
In the wild, Gibbons are rarely, if ever, on the ground. Gibbons have been structurally adapted for a completely arboreal lifestyle. In captivity, due to the difficulty in replicating the dense rain forest canopy which wild Gibbons occupy, captive Gibbons usually live a relatively terrestrial lifestyle, spending a great deal of time (including feeding) on the ground.The Elgin Center studies how to better improve captive Gibbon exhibits in order to promote arboreal behavior. The center experiments with different brachiating structures which allow the Gibbons to spend most of their time off the ground. [http://www.elgincenter.org/Elgin%20Center%20Updates/82030F16-4A9D-4582-8814-ADB3EC4C2882.html]
Involvement with Roots & Shoots
The Elgin Center runs a Roots & Shoots club out of Baldwin Prep School in Palm Beach Gardens. Students at Baldwin Prep are able to join the Elgin Center as part of Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots club. This club is dedicated to the care and preservation of the planet and its inhabitants [http://www.rootsandshoots.org] . In 2008, the Elgin Center's Roots and Shoots group was part Jane Goodall's talk at Florida Atlantic University [http://postpix.palmbeachpost.com/pages/photo_page.php?mm=1922169&gallery=323002] .
External links
[http://www.elgincenter.org Elgin Center] - official website
[http://www.lioncountrysafari.com Lion Country Safari]
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