Question

The scientist who studied animal behavior in geese is -

Answer 1

Hint: Konrad Zacharias Lorenz was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist born on 7 November 1903. He is regarded as one of the founders of modern ethology, which is the study of animal behavior. He developed an approach that began with the study of instinctive behavior in animals, especially in greylag geese and jackdaws.

Complete answer: Konrad Zacharias Lorenz was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist born on 7 November 1903. He is considered to be an influential scientist and also one of the founders of ethology. Ethology is the scientific and objective study of animal behavior, usually with a focus on behavior under natural conditions, and viewing behavior as an evolutionarily adaptive trait.
Lorenz is recognized as one of the founding fathers of the field of ethology, the study of animal behavior. He is best known for his discovery of the principle of attachment, or imprinting, through which in some species a bond is formed between a newborn animal and its caregiver.
Lorenz studied instinctive behavior in animals, especially in greylag geese and jackdaws. Working with geese, he investigated the principle of imprinting, the process by which some birds that leave their nest early bond instinctively with the first moving object that they see within the first hours of hatching.
He identified that young goose instinctively makes bonds with the first moving object it perceives, whether it be its mother or a person. Lorenz showed that this behavior of imprinting is what allows the goose to learn to recognize members of its own species, enabling them to be the object of subsequent behavior patterns such as mating. He developed a theory of instinctive and named it the hawk/goose effect.

Therefore, the correct answer is Konrad Zacharias Lorenz.

Note: Lorenz study of ethology and the concept of imprinting was earlier discovered by Douglas Spalding way back in the century. It was only due to Lorenz’s mentor that Lorenz took up the topic of imprinting. But Lorenz’s description and defining the process with concrete evidence is why he is considered to be one of the founding fathers of ethology. Lorenz published his description in his book “The Companion in The Environment of Birds” in 1935 which even today is considered to be the foundational book for imprinting.