Being in a position to work with a variety of different species allows me to observe species I never had the chance to observe before. I learn a lot. Observation is an important part of our day. A head trainer once asked me, “do we really know our animals if Read more…
Cover Photo: Simon Jonsson (Instagram simon84jo) The theory of animal training helped me a great deal until I worked with orcas. But little did I know that my skills would then be tested constantly along the way. A sea-lion was one thing, moving on to a killer whale was another. Read more…
Imagine this, you are taking care of animals in a zoo, some in free contact (animals you enter the enclosure with) and some in protective contact. The exhibits are pretty big. You decide to train your animals, but then think, where do I start to get my animal to understand Read more…
Cover Photo: www.okgrancanaria.com/en/tours/gran-canaria-loro-park-tour/ Javier Almunia is director of Loro Parque Fundación, an NGO that funds and implements wildlife conservation projects in over 40 countries around the world. The mission of Loro Parque Fundación is to conserve wild species and their habitats. They do this through education, applied research, responsible breeding Read more…
It’s only recently that I had a talk with one of our experienced keepers who challenged my thoughts about aggression. She came with the point that aggression is not necessarily a learned behaviour, whilst my belief was that it is. Aggression has a lot of complex behaviours. When I asked Read more…
Through my time training animals, I’ve always found it very interesting to see how our energy can effect our animals. Using our energy with a variety of animals and observing their responses is an interesting way to keep the animals engaged without any other reinforcement strategies. Challenging oneself to go Read more…
There are many different facets within the animal training field. Dog training, horse training, falconry, marine mammal training, elephant training, etc. All of these fields of expertise have their own thought process around behaviour, and this is one of the ways we can communicate to each other. One of our Read more…
Written By Dr Isabella Clegg, Animal Welfare Expertise ‘Animal welfare’ is now included in the majority of zoo mission statements, it’s fundamental in activist campaigns and government agendas, and it’s a top priority for animal caretakers- all of which should be seen as great progress. But as demands increase for Read more…
Since starting my career, I’ve worked with a huge amount of animals with different social structures, from Killer whales and dolphins, to Chimpanzees, Takins, Bush dogs, Lions, and even Elephants. I’ve also worked with a lot of humans, perhaps the most complex of all but we can agree all of Read more…
Cover Photo: Antonio Martinez Sanchez As trainers we are opened up too many challenges from the animals we work with. We try to give them the best care possible and sometimes medical procedures are part of this care. I’m constantly amazed with what trainers teach their animals, regarding cooperative care. Read more…
