Do you have habitats that sometimes make it challenging to train? I think every zoo does. We had to get creative to reinforce approximations for these gibbons who were not comfortable shifting inside when people were present. The solution? A remote feeder. The sound of the feeder dispensing acted as a bridge. Anytime an animal looked, shifted weight or moved towards the inside enclosure we triggered the feeder via an app on a phone. Pretty soon we had all animals shifting inside. In fact, it worked our first session. (side note…these animals already were familiar with the feeder as an enrichment device) The next steps were to gradually work towards having a staff member inside the building. I often find training frequently involves creative thinking to get the job done…another one of those things that ensures us that training is rarely boring 😊 #gibbons #gibbon #gibbontraining #greatape #greatapetrainning #zooanimaltraining #animaltraining #zooanimal #zooanimals #animalwelfare #zookeeper #zookeeperlife #animaltrainerlife #animaltrainingtips #feedpods![]()
