Porcher's On The Origin Of The Behaviors Of Animals

Ethology, often referred to as “behavioral biology” or “animal behavior,” is a branch from zoology, a field of biology. In ethology, the behaviors of animals are observed and studied (Sherman, 2014). Ethology is a combined study of laboratory and field science with focus on the behavioral process of all animals as a whole, as opposed to a certain species (Kaplan 2014).

Humans have always been fascinated by the behaviors of animals. Many naturalists have studied animal conduct throughout history, before the actual term “ethology” was introduced (Sherman, 2014). Many famous scientists throughout history have studied animal behavior. Charles Darwin addressed the topic in his book called On the Origin of Species in a chapter about instinct. This

Porcher (2014) is a published ethologist and wildlife artist. While painting sharks in Tahiti, she “documented the behavior” of the sharks and other animals. She initiated a study where she swam with Tahitian sharks and recorded their actions. Porcher is known as the “Jane Goodall to sharks” because she had discovered a way to study sharks without killing them. She sees that not only is it inhumane to take an animal’s life, but also that accurate observations are found in the animal’s natural habitat. It is wrong to kill animals for scientific purposes because killing of any kind is unethical and animals should be left in their rightful habitat. Although large discoveries may be made from observing killed animals, scientists should make greater efforts to keep their subjects alive and thriving. Captivating animals for studies or entertainment should be seen as animal abuse, and animal abuse should not be condoned under any

Without paying attention to animal behavior, we would not be able to protect our wildlife and we wouldn’t be able to realize when we are hurting our environment and the animals that live in the environment. Noticing change helps us to better understand the world around us and work to make it better. Ethologists are important because they can tell when a single animal is not behaving like the rest of its species. This may reveal something unpleasing about the animal, or something very interesting. Since individual animals “often don't do what others around them do,” the work of ethologists becomes very important (Porcher,