Page 260 - Zoo Animal Learning and Training

232 Box B10 Training Birds orom a Zoo Prooessionalls Perspective

VetBooks.ir the public etc. See what activity patterns and likely to occur. Despite being critical it is
sometimes underappreciated in training zoo
behaviours they perform; when do they tend
to be active versus rest? The key is to use
working successfully with birds is to consist-
your birds’ behaviour as a guide when setting birds. One simple, yet powerful, strategy to
up your training programme. Pick times of ently give them a verbal warning, or cue,
day that the birds are generally active, and before taking any action. This is important
choose areas where they are the most com- for multiple reasons:
fortable and spend most of their time in. Too 1) It reduces the chances that they will be
often in zoos, training times are dictated by startled by an unexpected movement or
the keeper’s schedule, and training locations action, which will lessen their trust of you
are selected for convenience and ease of and their comfort in their environment.
access. Turning this around and having the 2) It makes the keeper more aware of their
birds’ behaviour dictate the training param- own behaviour and its potential effect on
eters will go a long way towards setting the the birds in their care.
stage for a more successful programme. As 3) It enhances the KAR in daily care and
most bird species are prey animals, asking interactions.
them to learn new behaviours in an area that 4) It provides the bird with a predictable
they are not comfortable in, is beginning the environment, which conveys to them a
process with one hand (or wing) tied behind perception of control in their lives.
your back. If the bird is uncomfortable, there
is a strong risk of associating training in gen- So how does it work? It is a very simple
eral, with nervousness or fear. So watch and concept, and once practiced can become sec-
listen to the birds and enable this to shape ond nature. To earn and keep the birds’ trust,
how you set up their training programme. the verbal cues must be used consistently
(regularly and reliably), and they must be
delivered before the action. For example, the
Good Keeper–Animal keeper says ‘door’, then opens the door into
Relationships the exhibit; ‘entering’, then steps inside the
exhibit; ‘bowls’, then picks up or puts down
Keepers are an inevitable, inescapable daily food/water bowls; ‘moving’, then walks
presence, whose behaviour has a significant around the perimeter to get to the other side
role in animal training and welfare. Great of the exhibit and so on and so forth. Some
keepers have ‘animal sense’ that refers to keepers feel silly using this level of verbal
their ability to read animals’ behaviour and interaction/cueing, but I have personally
modify their own behaviour to make the ani- observed birds, including burrowing owls
mal feel comfortable. Animal sense is diffi- (Athene cunicularia) and toco toucans
cult to teach as it is guided by experience, (Ramphastos toco) that after implementation
intuition, and possibly an innate natural abil- of this strategy, became calmer and relaxed
ity but everyone can work to build a positive in a few days where they had previously
keeper animal relationship (KAR; Ward and flown around in a panic during routine care.
Melfi 2013, 2015) that is vital when working The birds’ reactions and behaviours to these
around birds, or other skittish or flighty (pun verbal cues should also guide the keeper’s
intended) animals. actions. For example, if a bird reacts to a ver-
Though the behaviour performed is deter- bal cue by moving or changing its behaviour,
mined by its consequences in operant condi- the keeper should wait until the bird is still,
tioning, success in bird training can be then recue before taking further action.
greatly facilitated with a strong focus on the Another strategy is the ‘freeze and go’ tech-
antecedents; setting up the circumstances nique where the keeper’s behaviour is dic-
which make the desired behaviours more tated by the bird’s behaviour. This technique