Comparative behavioral study of male nile hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) after pairing at Lahore Zoo

A comparative behavioral study was carried out on nile hippopotamus (hippopotamus amphibius) after pairing in lahore zoo from march 2008 to july 2008. previous study was conducted in 2003 when the male hippopotamus (named: raja) was leading a solitary life in zoo. during the study carried out before pairing,raja was observed as an inactive animal and totally different from its wild conspecific. a female was introduced in 2007 after the suggestions given in the previous study. results of recent study conducted after pairing were compared with results of the previous study with the help of histograms. results showed a clear difference in the behavior of the male after pairing. overall activity of the male increased after the introduction of female and the male became quite active. during the current study,behavior of male and female was also compared to explain the possible reasons of change in behavior of the male. female was observed as an extremely inactive animal,activity however increasing towards the end of the study,perhaps due to change in environment as she was brought from a herd. very little interaction between male and female was observed,that too in july only. the reason might be the age difference. for bringing a positive change in the behavior of captive animals some novel stimuli and environmental enrichment should be introduced by the zoo authorities. copyright © 2014 zoological society of pakistan.