Formal Presentations Thursday Abstracts
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Incorporating Integrative Medicine into Veterinary Care at Moody Gardens
Heather Samper Ashley Boland Moody Gardens Full Abstract
Integrative veterinary medicine (IVM) is the practice of complementary and alternative therapies used in conjunction with conventional veterinary care. Moody Gardens, in Galveston, TX, consulted with a local integrative veterinarian after a few animals experienced some long-term healing challenges post-surgery. Her new ideas of treatment methods were slowly incorporated into the care of 0.1 Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis) and 1.0 Cotton Top Tamarin (Saguinus oedipus) via free contact for both biologist and vet. More animals were added as consultations, and they eventually began undergoing treatments for a variety of ailments. This presentation will cover the tools of IVM, short case studies on the variety of species trained to voluntarily participate, and what to consider for pursuing these treatments with animals at your facility. |
A Flourishing Fanaloka:
Training the First Ambassador Fanaloka Cam Luna Nashville Zoo Full Abstract
In April of 2022 the Nashville Zoo welcomed Pepite, the first known spotted fanaloka (Fossa fossana) born in the United States. Since his mother was unable to raise him, Pepite was hand reared by vet staff then moved into the care of the animal ambassador department at 3 months old. As a nocturnal and naturally skittish animal the fanaloka was an unlikely candidate to be an ambassador animal. However, Pepite’s early socialization presented the zoo with the opportunity to share this elusive animal with guests. Over the course of the next few months Pepite began doing public programming in controlled classroom environments. As time progressed and through trial and error keepers experimented with doing public encounters with Pepite around the zoo in different environments. Keepers found that Pepite thrived in programming the Unseen New World at the Nashville Zoo due to the lack of bright lights. Through consistent training, relationship building, and adjusting to meet the fanaloka’s natural behavior, Pepite became a successful ambassador animal as his confidence grew and is now able to participate in daily encounters in the Unseen New World and other environments. |
“The Animals are Waiting”
A Free-operant Approach to Environmental Enrichment to Support Optimal Welfare. Rick Hester Behavior Works, LLC & Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Full Abstract
Discrete trial training, (DTT, i.e., the use of trainer-led ABCs) is an essential strategy for teaching animals to be active partners in their medical and husbandry care. This approach has resulted in extraordinary welfare benefits and is now the standard of care in modern zoos. However, DTT is, by definition restricted by trainers’ decisions: trainers provide a cue, set the behavioral criterion, deliver the reinforcers, and control the number of repetitions per session. In addition to these restrictions, DTT occupies a relatively small portion of any zoo animal’s day and, when training is the high point of their day, animals are too often left waiting for the next session to begin. A free operant approach is one in which the environment is arranged such that animals are free to make any possible response at any time, and the naturally occurring consequences available in the environment shape their operant behavior repertoire. A free operant environment, when rich with behavioral opportunities and reinforcers, induces a wide range of behavior for a variety of outcomes: In this arrangement animals do what nature sets them up to do, i.e., choose what to do, when to do it, for how long, at what speed, etc. (Lindsley, 1996). Both strategies together, that is, 1) borrowing animals for discrete training sessions to meet our medical and husbandry goals, and then 2) returning them to free operant environments should result in behaviorally healthier lifestyles for animals in human care. |
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"The Science of Behavior"
Lizzie Durkin Colchester Zoo Full Abstract
The science of behaviour breaks down the language barrier between humans and the animals within human care. Using a modern, constructive approach to animal training enables trainers to cross boundaries, and train more complex behaviours with the cooperation and two way communication between trainers and animals. Benefits of training are widely recognised, including; management of individuals or groups; reducing aggression; increasing natural behaviours; increasing physical activity; increasing cognitive activity; or for conservation or research purposes. A common goal for animal trainers is to train for behaviours that empower the individual and result in their participation with their veterinary care. All of these benefits link directly to improving the welfare of animals. With a predominant focus on sea lions, this presentation aims to deconstruct some key complex behaviours commonly trained with pinnipeds including; voluntary eye drops, blood draws and injections, to explore the veterinary and trainer requirements of each behaviour. Different facilities and individuals require different antecedent arrangements, but similar end goals and successes can be achieved through the use of training resilient foundation behaviours through a constructive approach to training. An example of a less commonly trained behaviour, voluntary ear flushing, will also be explored. Despite being pinniped focused, this presentation can be extrapolated to different species and individuals due to the transferable nature of the behaviours explored. |
Three Bears, Two Training Plans, One Voluntary Pill-Swallowing Behavior
Rachel Hughes Frank Buck Zoo Full Abstract
Zoological institutions have made great strides in training animals to voluntarily participate in medical behaviors, citing benefits to animal health and wellbeing. While some behaviors such as voluntary injections have become rather ubiquitous, it is exceedingly rare to encounter an animal that has been trained to voluntarily accept oral medications in capsule or tablet form; until recently this behavior had only been documented in some primate and pachyderm species. Given the prevalence of these sorts of medications and the common difficulties animal care staff experience in administering them, the importance of a trained voluntary pill-swallowing behavior becomes clear. This presentation details two distinct training plans that were successfully used to achieve voluntary pill-swallowing behaviors in American black bears (Ursus americanus) at the Frank Buck Zoo. While one plan focused on capturing the act of swallowing, the other centered around shaping a “don’t chew” behavior. Although both plans resulted in nearly identical end behaviors, each method had benefits and drawbacks. Ultimately, the ease with which voluntary pill swallowing was mastered in this novel species suggests that this training could be applied in countless taxa in which it has not been previously attempted, resulting in broad implications for the well-being of animals in human care. |
Training a Ring-tailed Lemur to Leave Lemur Island
Sabrina Eccher Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Full Abstract
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s mission is to “connect people with wildlife and wild places through experiences that inspire action”. Situated in the middle of the hippo pool, Lemur island houses a conspiracy of ring-tailed lemurs. The island has many trees and ropes so that the ring-tailed lemurs can use their adaptations, such as their grasping digits, semi-opposable thumbs and long tail to travel across perching on the island. Their impressive ability to travel across various perching is what gave us the inspiration to start training a lemur named Hercules to show off those abilities. The training allowed Hercules to voluntarily travel across a log bridge and rope totaling about 35 feet away from Lemur island. At the end of the log bridge and rope pathway, Hercules would station at a tree that was over zoo guests’ heads, allowing us to provide an up-close connection with zoo guests. This presentation will outline how we taught the relevant prerequisite behaviors for his success in this program and our journey teaching him to leave the island. Some key components for us were antecedent arrangement, timing of reinforcer delivery, and the concepts of chaining and fading. |
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It Takes Two to Tango
How Your Antecedent Arrangements as a Trainer can Improve Behavioral Fluency Christine Montgomery Dallas Zoo Full Abstract
As animal trainers, our primary emphasis lies in optimizing the conditions for our animals' success. We meticulously organize their surroundings to ensure favorable outcomes during training sessions. Yet, there's another crucial component in this dynamic—the trainers themselves. Often, our dedication to enhancing the animals' success overshadows the importance of setting ourselves, as the trainers, up for success. This paper will share some of the strategies implemented at the Dallas Zoo over the past year to improve the antecedent arrangements for trainers. Techniques such as pre-session planning, including rehearsing hand mechanics and timing, post-session debriefs, ensuring session preparedness with supplies and classroom work to refine trainer mechanics have proven instrumental in elevating behavioral success. |
Lactation Nation Milking Dolphins to Raise a Neonate Calf
Sarah Ivkovich Dolphin Research Center Full Abstract
On May 31, 2022, Gypsi delivered her first born calf, a female named Bowie. There was no mother calf bonding so the decision was made to hand raise Bowie in our medical pool. Within hours of the birth, trainers were able to collect milk from Gypsi and the calf received this first milk and colostrum via stomach tubing. We continued milk collection from Gypsi to provide Bowie as much natural mother’s milk as possible. To increase the milk supply, we utilized Equidone to induce lactation in four additional female bottlenose dolphins, who had lactated before for their own calves or rescues. Frequent stimulation by nipple/suction cup and massage method maintained lactation, with milk collection up to five times a day from each dolphin. Gypsi continued lactating thanks to her maternal hormones and the stimulation of the daily collections. In this presentation we will explain the training and maintenance of the milk collection behavior, troubleshooting the collection device and techniques, and adapting them for each different female dolphin. We will talk of the social aspect of this behavior, as all 5 of our females formed stronger bonds and were eager to participate in the collection. There was also a huge educational component as all of our sessions were presented to a fascinated public. Bowie successfully weaned to a fish diet and moved into our lagoons on January 30, 2023. She has been adopted into a maternity group that includes another mother/calf pair, and is exhibiting normal dolphin social behavior. |
Using Ethology to Uplift Reinforcement Systems
and Messaging for Conservation Ambassador Birds Hillary Hankey Avian Behavior International Full Abstract
In modern conservation programming, educators emphasize natural behaviors to their audience to establish an ethical approach to behavior management and exhibition. As programming has evolved to fit more birds into tighter time frames and physical spaces, our concept of natural behavior has expanded in ways that not only misrepresent the diversity of niches in the avian world, but can also cause problems in a training team by oversimplifying reinforcement strategies. Using key components of ethology including foraging style, courtship behaviors, evolved habitat, flight dynamics, and social structure, we can better understand natural reinforcers and punishers and use these as opportunities to expand our training programs and offer our audiences an even richer experience. |
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Safety First, Dart Second:
Dart Gun Training with Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra Emily Mack Zoo Knoxville Full Abstract
"In April 2021, Zoo Knoxville experienced the death of a Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra (HMZ) due to a fence impact during the darting process for a routine immobilization. In response to this event, the Grasslands team implemented a training plan with the goal of each HMZ maintaining calm behavior when a stranger presents a dart gun. Voluntary injection training was not possible in our situation due to sedation medications carrying high risks to human safety. Our training has reduced the HMZ’s panic behaviors to near zero, which has decreased the risk of injury or death during the darting process. This proved invaluable when another HMZ required ligament surgery in February 2022. The follow-up care required this HMZ to be immobilized sixteen times over a twenty-month period. Throughout this process, the Grasslands team had to continually adjust the training plan to maintain calm behavior during dart gun presentation, thus enabling needed medical care without darting-related stress. This presentation will discuss dart gun training steps, pitfalls the team learned along the way, and how this training could be applicable across multiple species. Darting to deliver medication is a necessary practice for many animals to maintain good welfare. Voluntary injection training is a valuable tool in many situations; however, sometimes immediate medical needs or safety practices necessitate the use of darting. Zoo Knoxville’s Grasslands team has implemented a proactive training program to mitigate animal safety risks when darting is necessary." |