Okay, as usual, this is going to an an almost Wordless Wednesday post! I’ve been chatting some with Linda, who works at Zooworld in Panama City Beach, Florida. In the picture above she is working on target training (using clicker training) with one of the zoo’s young giraffes. I’ve written before about why training is […]
Last spring, I spent a very fun day at the Dallas Zoo. My professor and advisor, Jesus Rosales-Ruiz, spoke at a weekly lunch lecture series the zoo has for their staff, sharing information about some of his research on poisoned cues. I wrote most of this post then, but never got around to completely finishing […]
Have you seen Lili Chin’s latest poster? It’s inspired by this great quote from Ted Turner (behaviorist and head trainer at Sea World): “If you can teach a whale to pee in a cup, you can train your dog without punishment.” The illustration features twelve great examples of wild animals who have been trained to […]
As many of you know, I’m part of ORCA (the Organization for Reinforcement Contingencies with Animals) at UNT. Much of what ORCA does is research, training and community service. However, one of our other missions is to educate the public about positive training. We do this at our big annual animal training conference and by […]
I just finished reading We Bought a Zoo, by Benjamin Mee. What an entertaining book! This book is the true story of one daring English family that spent their life savings to buy an old, dilapidated zoo. The zoo has been shut down due to having it’s license revoked and is rife with problems, from […]
Stereotypical behaviors (abnormal repetitive behaviors) are commonly seen in animals kept in captivity. Polar bears and other large carnivories are notorious for repetitive pacing type behaviors. Grazing animals kept in unnatural or confined environments often resort to chewing on bars or fences or obsessive licking. Other animals rock back and forth, obsessively groom themselves or engage […]
