This essay discusses foraging habits about animals and human beings. It will focus on describing various traits exhibited by both humans and animals in connection with the topic. First Brian Glass defines foraging as the process through which organisms search their environment for resources such as food, mates, and information, among others (Glass, 2017). Donald Kramer, on the other hand, describes foraging as a collection of methods in which organisms obtain energy and nutrients (Kramer, 2001). He mentions that that food can be consumed directly through feeding, stored to be put to consumption later (hoarding) or given to other individuals through what is known as provisioning.
Cynthia Stokes Brown in her book alludes that for the 95 percent of human beings’ time on the planet, people have survived by foraging. She further points out that human beings have hunted and gathered food from nature for a long time (Brown, 2012). With modernization, human beings currently experience fewer constraints when searching for food. Factories that manufacture food are found virtually in every place on the continent. Most of the time, the term foraging is associated with obtaining food from nature. In the contemporary world, the practice of hunting and gathering food from nature has reduced considerably. But long ago, human beings gathered plants as well as tiny animals, insects, and birds. Humans hunted and picked animals that were killed by other predators for food. However, not only humans forage. Instead, many species of animals forage too. Because human beings could speak, they passed knowledge and skills to young ones, hence became better foragers as compared to the animals. The capacity to give instruction and impart skills to the younger generation are the aspects that distinguish humans from other animals.
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One of the breakthroughs that set humans ahead of animals was the discovery of fire. Scientists speculate that hominines, the human beings species, may have started to use fire for cooking more than a million years ago. Humans must have discovered fire out of the bushfires started by lightning. Scholars analyze that cooked food gave more nutrition and contributed to the development of the brain. With the invention of fire, humans began chatting around it while eating and as a result, their language began to develop (Goldstone, Ashpole and Roberts, 2005). The development in their language meant that they could coordinate their activities better and therefore outdo other animals in their search for food.
In the past, the environment dictated the lives of any groups of humans. For the foragers to survive, they had to have a broad knowledge of their surroundings. They also needed a vast territory to move and search for resources. The common characteristic among all human beings who foraged was that they moved frequently and lived in temporary camps (Bartumeus and Catalan, 2009). With the change in seasons, they followed their prey when they migrated. Usually, people organized themselves into groups of about 15 to 30 to increase their effectiveness and efficiency.
The traits of the organization of human beings into teams also occur in animals. Majority of animals that hunt their prey such lions and leopards usually move in groups and attack their prey as a team. After killing their prey, observations have been made whereby these animals share their food. Sharing only happens when the food is in plenty. When the food becomes scarce, or conflicts arise, they also tend to split just like human beings. Even in the contemporary world, human beings continue to fight over resources due to the scarcity. Wars have broken out in several places of the world, with several groups of people trying to claim the disputed resources.
The Bushmen, for instance, give a hint on how ancient people engaged in foraging. Presently, they are found in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana. Scholars allude that these group of people moved out daily in the rainy season in search of greens to consume (Goldstone, Ashpole and Roberts, 2005). They lived in simple structures that were temporary and whose primary function was to shield them from adverse weather and environmental conditions such rain and sunshine. They lived in places where they could quickly obtain the resources they need. To put it in perspective, many communities lived near rivers or water bodies.
Most animals too, on the other hand, construct simple structures as their places of stay. Birds make nests out of grass and simple materials such as bits of straws, wood, among others. Birds also stay near places where they can quickly get their food and water. When seasons change, birds usually flock in large groups to look for better resources. Other animals also live in a niche where their prey can easily be found.
Through studies of archaeologists and anthropologists, various deductions can be made between foraging behavior in ancient human beings and animals. Archaeologists study the societies of humans by examining cultural, material and environmental records. These experts attempt to investigate the tools that human beings used from the past up to the present days. On the other hand, anthropologists examine and investigate the societies in the contemporary world that have lifestyles similar to those of the past (Bartumeus and Catalan, 2009). Through such studies, scholars have established that it was the men that most of the time went out to do hunting. The society considered men to have the necessary ability to attack and kill the prey. Women and children sat at home and only waited for the food. The women were charged with the task of preparing the food. This trait is also exhibited in animals. Male animals do the chase while the females as well the young ones wait for the prey.
It is vital to observe human being behavior in the modern world too in comparison to animal behavior regarding foraging. In the contemporary world, humans try to mark their territory, and when strangers intrude into their space, they are triggered to respond. In a bid to construct their boundaries, they build houses and fences around them. Nobody is allowed to enter their compounds without permission or satisfactory reasons. Most of the time, an intrusion may be treated as an attack and may, therefore, be met by aggression (Kramer, 2001). Just as human beings, animals trying to make their living space for safety. Any other animal that tries to approach them is engaged in a fight. The only distinction that may arise is that they do not likely attack their kind like the case with human beings. More so, most animals still live together unlike humans who continue to split and bar their type from sharing the same space.
Even in the modern context, humans settle where they perceive their resources to be. By moving to urban areas, human beings believe that they can get access to opportunities better. There is a common belief that urban centers offer better prospects concerning employment, access to quality education as well as to health facilities. Modernity has shifted some of the foraging habits of human beings (Glass, 2017). People long ago depended on nature to provide for them. Hunting was done in forests, wilderness and so forth but urbanization has changed a majority of the practices. People in cities nowadays rely on formal employment and have no time to hunt and gather food. Many governments to preserve their wildlife, have illegalized hunting of wild animals. Only edible domestic animals are allowed for consumption. Food is therefore mainly bought in urban areas. Construction activities in urban centers have destroyed the natural ecosystem hence foraging practices that were done in the past are not similar to those in the modern context. Advancement in aspects such as transport and technology has led to interactions among human beings of different races and borrowed many elements from each other.
Animals have the limitation of not having the abilities of human beings. They cannot move over vast tracts of land to interact without the intervention of humans. Human activities have had profound impacts on animals regarding their foraging behavior. Animals that stay in urban centers have adapted distinguishable traits from those of animals living in rural areas. Birds that are scavengers are a common sight in urban centers because of human disposal habits (Brown, 2012). They feed on dumping sites that usually have leftovers. Many crows, for example, have migrated to urban centers where plenty of food has been deposited. If modernity had not emerged, birds like crows would be found in the wilderness, waiting for carnivores to kill their prey so that they can scavenge.
To conclude, there has been a lot of things from the past that humans have been sharing with animals. Existing literature that attempts to unravel the life of man mainly before civilization points out that humans used to be hunters and gatherers. The way human beings searched for resources related to a great extent with the animal foraging habits. Although modernization has emerged, a majority of the characteristics are still prominent. Evolution might have only taken the traits to another level. Competition for a better life is always rife. Conflicts over scarce resources are still evident too. Human activities not only affect them, but they also influence the foraging habits of other animals because of the changes in climate and the environment. Therefore, it is imperative to conclude that human and animal behavior are linked on a considerable scale.
References
Bartumeus, F., & Catalan, J. (2009). Optimal search behavior and classic foraging theory. Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical , 42 (43), 434002.
Brown, C. S. (2012). Big history: From the big bang to the present . The New Press.
Glass, D. B (2017). Modeling Human Foraging. Department of Psychology University of Texas at Austin
Goldstone, R. L., Ashpole, B. C., & Roberts, M. E. (2005). Knowledge of resources and competitors in human foraging. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review , 12 (1), 81-87.
Kramer, D. L. (2001). Foraging behavior. Evolutionary ecology: concepts and case studies. Oxford University Press, New York , 232-246.
