Zoo InternQuest is a seven-week career exploration program for San Diego County high school juniors and seniors. Students have the unique opportunity to meet professionals working for the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research, learn about their jobs, and then blog about their experience online. Follow their adventures here. This week, interns met Ms. Nicki Boyd, Behavioral Husbandry Manager for the San Diego Zoo. Ms. Boyd is the first person to occupy this position, and is in charge of all the training programs for the many animals at the Zoo. [caption id="attachment_116079" align="aligncenter" width="450"]
Animal training is very important for a number of reasons. By training zoo animals, important medical procedures can be done in the safest manner possible, both for keepers and the animals themselves. By performing basic exams at exhibits, the animals undergo much less stress than having to catch them and transport them to the hospital. Also, some animals love being trained! Training acts as a means for stimulation and enrichment for many of the animals; ultimately reducing boredom.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_116075" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Ms. Boyd showed interns a video of a spotted otter getting his blood pressure taken. By measuring this otter’s blood pressure, vets can check for cardiac problems. The otter is tempted by a treat and happily slips through a tube held against the wall, allowing the keeper easy access to his tail. A blood pressure cuff is placed around his tail, and his blood pressure reading is received with no trouble at all.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_116072" align="aligncenter" width="450"] This female hippo is having her tusks trimmed. She scratched up the male that was introduced to her exhibit to breed, and it was best for both animals that the tusks were shortened. Ms. Boyd trained this hippo for about six months with a target spoon to hold her mouth open long enough to score the tusks with a length of wire. Every time the hippo does the behavior, she is rewarded with a handful of hay.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_116071" align="aligncenter" width="302"] The Zoo’s silverback gorilla has a cardiac defect, which like humans, could be fatal if ignored. Here, he holds still to allow the vet to listen to his heart. This gorilla had been coughing and the staff was worried he may have fluid in his chest. Given a little Kern’s nectar, he calmly and happily complies with the procedure and a stressful vet visit was avoided[/caption] [caption id="attachment_116076" align="aligncenter" width="450"] To transport a rhino to the hospital would be a massive undertaking, and a very stressful happening for everyone involved. However, due to Ms. Boyd’s training programs, however, this two ton mammoth easily complies with a blood draw. Ordinarily blood is only drawn during annual exams, when there is a health concern, or before an animal is transported. This rhino was leaving the Zoo for the Safari Park.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_116077" align="aligncenter" width="450"] This Abdim stork is part of the Zoo’s free-flight bird show team. For the health and safety of the birds, they need to be weighed daily. This stork flies down to the perch mounted on the scale, and as soon as it stops fluttering and folds its wings, the keeper rewards it with a treat and a sharp whistle. All of the Zoo’s training programs are focused on positive reinforcement; if the animal performs the behavior, they are rewarded.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_116069" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Just like people, animals start to slow down when they get older. This older brown bear had arthritis, and needed an injection to reduce his pain and help him move about his enclosure. Many, many animals at the Zoo are trained to easily transfer into their bedrooms and smaller enclosures like this one so the keepers can safely interact with them in close quarters. The bear’s keeper has him trained to sit, so Ms. Boyd can inject his medication while he is focused on the person in front of him.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_116070" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Kubali, a South African cheetah, is part of the Zoo’s animal ambassador program, and so is used to contact with her keepers. Although the keepers and vets have direct contact with her, they are sure to have people with a strong relationship with her in the front, while a vet tech draws blood. Staff are always sure to remain as safe as possible, and only highly-trained keepers[/caption] [caption id="attachment_116078" align="aligncenter" width="450"] As you can imagine, wrangling Galapagos tortoises into their bedroom for dinner could be quite the time-consuming task. However, they are now trained to hobble over to the bedrooms when they hear a cowbell ringing. What used to be an hours-long, multi-keeper job can now be handled by one keeper in about twenty minutes. This is also better for the tortoises, who no longer have to be herded around.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_116074" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Interns watched a live training session, courtesy of Ms. Boyd and a fennec fox named Oringo. Ms. Boyd and other keepers have been working with Oringo since he was very young, and although he was hand-raised, he is still shy. There have been a few set-backs in his training: irritating eye-drops for his cataracts being one of them. Despite his lingering shyness, a keeper earlier the same day had had success with his ongoing collar-training. Ms. Boyd hopes to have him leash trained so he can stretch his legs and accompany educators to schools.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_116073" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Interns were incredibly lucky to meet the woman who has done so much to revolutionize the way keepers interact with their animals. Because of Ms. Boyd, keepers can greatly increase the range of procedures and activities they can perform with their animals without stress on either side. Proactive medical care means less trips to the hospital and less serious illnesses. The training programs Ms. Boyd has organized and the work she continues to do has a monumental effect on the health and happiness of all the Zoo’s creatures, big and small.[/caption] Jenna, Photo Team Week Five, Winter Session 2016