Our roving section is an exciting place to work and we are always learning new things about our animals. Two of our staff, Leanne and Kristy, were lucky enough to attend and animal training course in Sydney recently, and participated in five full days of lectures and films.
It was a wonderful course, explaining the importance of why we are trained to rove our animals. Experience is the best teacher. Training is such a dynamic process; good trainers learn by doing. What’s more, they never know it all, but will continue growing by adding to their training knowledge and experience.
Humans have interacted with animals as far back as we have historical records. In fact, evidence suggests that people have always been fascinated with animals of all types. Ancient kings and pharaohs maintained large menageries as a sign of their wealth and power. These menageries, while a far cry from modern zoo, were early examples of maintaining and caring for wildlife.
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of animal training is it's ability to provide for the animals’ overall physical and mental welfare.
PRIMARY REASONS FOR TRAINING
Physical exercise
No matter how large the exhibit, it will never be the Pacific Ocean, the African Savannah, or the Brazilian rainforest. Training gives us a means to provide exercise in an enriching and challenging way.
Mental Stimulation
In eliminating many of the worries and problems that otherwise would face an animal in the wild, we leave them free to occupy their time in other ways. As trainers we must continually provide new and interesting stimulation to their environment and to their lives.
Training itself provides our animals with challenges which enhances an animals life.
Cooperative behaviour
We also call this “husbandry behaviours”, “medical behaviours” or “medical procedures”. To provide our animals with the very best care possible, we must be able to provide medical care, move them from place to place, or separate them when necessary. If they are taught to give blood or how to move from one enclosure to another, life is easier for both animal and trainer.
Being a rover and learning to train is a very complex job. If you are going to succeed in teaching your animals to live in a zoological environment, they must be happy, healthy animals. To be a good rover and trainer you must understand veterinary care, nutritional and dietary needs, and all aspects of animal care, in essence, a rover/trainer must be a complete animal care professional.
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Kristy and Leanne with
Mia and Teyha |
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Kristy and Leanne with
Mia and Tehya |
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Tehya giving Leanne a kiss |
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