Page 213 - Zoo Animal Learning and Training

Box B1 Elephant Training in Zoos 185

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Figure B1.2 An example of how keepers can perform husbandry tasks within a free‐contract management
regime; free‐contact is denoted by the animal and keeper sharing the same physical space as one another. In
this situation, a young elephant is being washed by their keeper. Source: Jeroen Stevens.

participation (Ramirez 1999). The fundamen- the surface they were not much different from
tal principles of these training methods are the elephant demonstrations in circuses. Once
based in deep‐rooted training doctrine and positive reinforcement and protected‐contact
certainly have results‐based arguments on became the norm these demonstrations either
both sides. Moreover, it is becoming decreas- disappeared from zoos or were replaced with
ingly favoured by the public to accept a conservation oriented presentations high-
method that is based on punishment rather lighting the plight of wild elephants. Many
than reward. elephant training programmes have gone as
Another, more noticeable, shift in zoo far as to remove the word ‘No’ from the train-
elephant training has been the slow and ing jargon. This is not to avoid the anthropo-
deliberate decline in elephant shows or pres- morphism of the communication system, but
entations of trained elephants demonstrating to remind the trainer that elephants don’t
behaviour unrelated to medical manage- need to understand what they can’t do, but
ment or husbandry. Twenty years ago, most what they can do. This paradigm shift has us
American zoos that housed elephants had at looking more towards the decisions elephants
least one scheduled presentation a day. The in zoos can make for themselves and less
presentations remained fairly consistent, about how we dictate those decisions, with an
highlighting the strength (for example, haul- increasing focus on allowing these animals
ing logs or lifting weights), agility (for exam- some choice within their environment.
ple, standing on two legs or sitting), balance Of course as with other zoo animal training
(for example, standing on small platforms), programmes, elephant management takes an
and the relationship with the trainer. Often almost unprecedented amount of collabora-
these shows shared information about natu- tion and cooperation between trainers, man-
ral history, the elephant’s unique physiology, agers, medical staff, and researchers. Robust
and emphasised the intelligence and tracta- and effective training programmes open up
bility of the species. For many guests this was the possibilities for elephants to partici-
the first time they were exposed to elephant pate in their own care at a level that could
training in a zoo environment, however, on someday surpass the objectives and benefits