Ecology Study Guide Chapter 51 Animal behavior is anything to do with animals and they way they function and reproduce. Proximate cause is the immediate trigger for a behavior. For example, if a zebra is drinking at a water hole, and all of a sudden it hears another zebra nearby make an alarm call, it may stop drinking immediately and start running away instead. The proximate cause of the zebra running away would be the alarm call. But the ultimate cause, or real reason why the zebra is running is survival. It is running away because it wants to survive. The alarm call is not the source of danger, but the alarm call alerts the zebra that danger, such as a lion, may be nearby and the lion can threaten the zebra's chance to survive.