Page 327 - Zoo Animal Learning and Training

12.9 Training Wild Bilbies to Avoid Predators 299

VetBooks.ir involved with using a fox. In this case, it freezing, hiding, or flying during the trials
(Alonso et al. 2011).
could have been more appropriate to use a
After antipredator training was completed,
trained dog of similar size to the fox; previ-
ous studies have demonstrated that naive all the owls were carefully monitored for two
prey trained with a dangerous predator often weeks to ensure that they had the necessary
generalise their antipredator responses to hunting skills for obtaining food. The trained
anatomically similar predators (Griffin et al. owls were fitted with radio‐transmitters, and
2001). Thus, training with a live dog may released to suitable habitats in Madrid where
have evoked similar responses to live foxes. little owls naturally occur. In this study, the
researchers released two groups of little owls
(nine trained and seven untrained controls) to
12.8 Training Captive Reared the wild. The team monitored the owls four
Little Owls to Avoid Predators times per week during the first six weeks after
release; previous studies have shown that most
The little owl Athene noctua is a small (to predation on birds reared in captivity occurs
210 g) owl that occurs in western Europe, during the first few weeks following release to
north Africa and central Asia. Little owls are the wild (Parish and Sotherton 2007). The only
not a threatened species, but populations in problem with this study is that due to logistical
Europe have declined over the past few dec- difficulties, the researchers were unable to
ades. To date, nearly all introductions of little train or track the fate of control and trained
owls to Europe have had poor success due to animals during the same years. Instead, they
high rates of predation on newly released monitored the fate of control owls in 2007, and
owls (Van Nieuwenhuyse et al. 2008). the fate of trained owls in 2010 (Alonso et al.
In an attempt to redress this problem, 2011). Because predation rates often vary
researchers trained captive reared fledgling through time, this design means that it is diffi-
chicks to avoid two predators: rats and gos- cult to determine whether training conferred
hawks (Alonso et al. 2011). Shortly after survival benefits to the birds.
hatching, the chicks were transferred to out- Nonetheless, the results of this study were
door cages where they were raised by adult encouraging. In the first few weeks following
foster parents. This study used both live rats release, predators killed four of six control birds
and a stuffed goshawk in the flight position in 2007, whereas predators only killed two of
as the conditioned stimuli, and a digital seven trained birds in 2010. The main preda-
recording of the alarm call of the little owl as tors responsible for little owl deaths included a
the unconditioned stimulus. In the rat trials, goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), a sparrowhawk
a trained rat rapidly crossed a mesh‐covered (Accipiter nisus), two tawny owls (Strix aluco),
corridor on the floor of the owl’s cage, whilst a least weasel (Mustela nivalis), and a genet
in the goshawk trials, a stuffed goshawk rap- (Genetta genetta). The longer‐term fate of the
idly moved along a cable suspended above little owls used in this study was not reported;
the owl’s cage. Goshawk trials occurred dur- clearly, longer‐term monitoring will be required
ing the day, and rat trials occurred at night. to demonstrate that training provides long‐
In both trials, the predator presentation term benefits to this species.
lasted a few seconds and was paired with the
recording of the little owl alarm call. In this
study, the researchers carried out two to four 12.9 Training Wild Bilbies
trials each week, from fledgling age until to Avoid Predators
release. Importantly, the outdoor cages con-
tained natural vegetation, high perches, and Australia has a particularly poor record of
nest boxes so that the owls could display mammalian extinctions, and has lost at least
appropriate antipredator responses, such as 29 species of mammal since Europeans