Otters 'stone juggling': new research looks into why

 

Otters are often scene playing with pebbles, throwing and catching them, known as 'stone juggling' and researchers from the University of Exeter believe they know why. It was previously thought the game helped hone their foraging skills. The study revealed older and young otters tended to juggle more, but when the researchers tested them with food games, they were no better at solving them than adults, who are less likely to juggle. Hunger was found to be a big factor in juggling and researches believe the action could be linked to excitement for food Subscribe to Guardian News on YouTube ► http://bit.ly/guardianwiressub Tummy rumbles? Otters juggle pebbles probably when peckish ► https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/may/06/tummy-rumbles-otters-juggle-pebbles-probably-when-peckish Support the Guardian ► https://support.theguardian.com/contribute Today in Focus podcast ► https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/todayinfocus The Guardian YouTube network: The Guardian ► http://www.youtube.com/theguardian Owen Jones talks ► http://bit.ly/subsowenjones Guardian Football ► http://is.gd/guardianfootball Guardian Sport ► http://bit.ly/GDNsport Guardian Culture ► http://is.gd/guardianculture