ABC'S: ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
CONCERNS & SOLUTIONS
A Question & Answer Forum For Animal Professionals
All content © by Diana L. Guerrero unless otherwise noted and may not be reprinted without prior written permission. All rights reserved. Click here for reprint permissions and fees.
Welcome to the ABC's! Animal Behavior Concerns & Solutions is an animal behavior column written by animal behaviorist and animal trainer, Diana L. Guerrero. This section is dedicated to animal training techniques for all animals and pets, and topics related to operant conditioning and reinforcement. This column is about nursery elephant baby behavior and training. For pet training please visit the pet sections, see our pet behavior booklets in the shop, or click here for enrollment information for classes and teleseminars.
Nursery Behavior Necessities
Zoo, Nursery and Children's Zoo Pachyderm String
QUESTION
There have been numerous problems associated with hand-reared babies
in Zoological Gardens. These include not only human orientation
or imprinting but higher instances of aggression to keeper staff,
animal ambassadors going awry, and difficulties in integration with
NOTE: This is a very complex topic that was covered in a series of articles under the same title.
ANSWER
Problems are also escalated when you are raising any animal due
to the lack of data on behavioral development. Humans and domestic
species of animals have specific development and critical learning
periods which, if not utilized correctly; or if they are not exposed
to those particular experiences that must be secured during that
time, will result in abnormal development or dysfunction.
Many animals are more open and receptive to behavioral conditioning
at weaning age. Most animals need to be handled appropriately before
then. Babies are very malleable and behavior strategies, if clear,
may be easily ingrained despite the genetic or instinctive behavior
characteristics. When you get into the larger species of animals
that take longer to wean, things become more complicated.
Another problem to consider is whether or not human-reared animals
are to be considered a success or not. Mother reared neonates are
the ideal since they show success in captive management on many
levels. Social skills found in mother reared infants are many times
lacking in hand-reared infants. In some species hand-rearing creates
"dysfunctional" individuals who face various difficulties in integrating
with their own species, and other related challenges with interfacing
successfully with those animals or with humans as they mature. In
worse case scenarios, they will exhibit signs of stereotypic behavior,
and sometimes will have physiological challenges due to imbalances.
So the question that remains to be answered is; When is hand-rearing
to be considered a success?
ANIMAL PROFILE: ELEPHANTS
Captive raised elephants are a difficult challenge. The babies being
born now are being born to captive held animals that have missed
the elephant socialization and natural education that comes from
living in a herd environment, such as in the wild. Those adults
may be considered dysfunctional since they never had education from
older elephants (as a general rule) or perhaps grew up completely
solitary (without elephants or older elephants) until later in life.
In many cases, the mothers or other animals in the herd may have
never had exposure to a birth or the events connected with it.
Another challenge in captivity is the frequent change in the herd
dynamics and shifting of animals from one location to another. Many
bonds that have been broken may add to the instability of some individuals
later in life and other variables such as training background, exposure
to new stimuli, and other such things can contribute to producing
a more unreliable animal. Because of the historic lack of behavioral
or training records, this is hard to track.
Other challenges include a lack of proper socialization (compared
to the natural history of the species) and exposure to different
routines and management techniques, which complicates management
of this species. With the current variables concerning captive management
(free contact, protected-contact, no contact and confined management)
in a constant state of flux, it is important to give any captive
offspring the best behavior coaching possible. This means that strategies
introduced to the animal at a young age are critical. The birth
of a calf is an opportune time to use that occasion as an educational
tool not only for the baby, but for the staff, the other herd members,
and the mother.
Controlled Contact vs. Uncontrolled Contact are terms I prefer to
use with the management of elephants instead of all the current
titles given in the industry. You either have control or you do
not. There have been injuries and incidents in both "Free Contact"
and "Protected Contact" that have occurred due to a lack of behavioral
control. Also, in management of the elephants it appears that some
animals do better in one system while others do better in another.
Safety and a high degree of husbandry care are critical factors
for consideration in elephant management but so is reproduction.
The zoological industry is going to have refine elephant management
further to address breeding across systems and the related challenges
of successful birthing (i.e., having both the mother and offspring
survive).
REARING CONSIDERATIONS: EXPERIENCED RESOURCES
Hand-rearing experts are usually found in the Nursery of Children's
Zoo areas. Training and behavior experts are usually found outside
that area. Without any disrespect to either group, since they have
very different and critical skills, in this particular species,
if the mother is not rearing the calf, it is suggested that elephant
calves be left with the particular training personnel of the Elephant
Department and around the herd.
Reasons for this vary, but since the behavior control and integration
back into the group is critical to producing a stable animal that
will weigh around 10,000 pounds, that would be the best for the
animal....and the full grown animal's future keepers/trainers. Facilities
might consider placing a hand-rearing person on loan to teach the
elephant department some basics of their skill or perhaps rotate
them through a short training or practical experience in the nursery
while the cow is pregnant.......just in case.
Your best contacts regarding this type of situation are found by
following the recommendations of your Elephant Manager or by contacting
the Elephant Manager's Association. There are some facilities with
successful breeding and calving programs who would be more than
happy to assist. Other sources include Independent Elephant Consultants
instead of or in conjunction with Behavior Consultants. A broad
base of experience with elephants and years of experience with the
species is critical to the success of this type of strategy development.
*For further information on this topic consult with
your facility management for the Elephant Manager's Statement on
Free/Protected Contact and the American Zoo & Aquarium Association's
Elephant Management Guidelines & Minimum Standards For Management
of Elephants in Captivity.
PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS:
ELEPHANTS (General Overview)
Although this column usually only covers general behavior recommendations,
some of the professionals who discussed this topic felt that it
was important to include the following areas for consideration.
Since hand-rearing deals with the animal in a "free contact" system
the focus of this article will be from that viewpoint.
- PRE-TRAINING MOTHER PRIOR TO CALVING
- COMPILATION/ANALYSIS OF FORMULAS
- RESTRAINT CONSIDERATIONS FOR CALVING
- HERD CONSIDERATIONS SURROUNDING THE BIRTH
PRE-TRAINING PRIOR TO CALVING
Mother reared babies are more desirable than hand-reared for health
and behavior stability. Anything that can be done to help prepare
the mother is desirable. One institution found that one of the "aunties"
of the herd was calm during birth and is an exceptionally good mother
possibly due to her exposure to another baby born about a year an
a half before hers.
That is the ideal situation. Lacking that option, areas that should
be considered are: the desensitization of the cow for various activities;
training her to nurse or to allow milking, accepting a small animal
or "mock baby." The decision as to whether to restrain her during
birth or not should be decided well in advance; Strategies should
also be developed to deal with various case scenarios.
These other areas to consider developing strategies for can be gleaned
from the previewing of past video tapes of the elephant birth process
in other institutions by staff. It would be advantageous to watch
the period before and just after the birth and develop a checklist
or ethogram of the birthing process. Trends and predictable patterns
would become evident; these would be nuances in areas such as body
positioning, stretching, degree of movements or stretches, and other
patterns. Knowing how to identify the time just before birth where
the mother becomes very agitated and the baby drops would be an
asset to the attending staff.
What does the mother do then? Controlling the situation would allow
the cow to look at the baby without the fear of loss. Important
differences in the posture between a quick turn to look and a headstand
is a nuance many staff probably could not distinguish.
Checklists of procedures and priorities would be needed. Some topics
to address are: Is the mom aggressive or not? How is the health
of the baby? What is the disposition of the mother? What is best
for her well-being? Is this a good tool to use with the rest of
the herd? Can they observe? Is there a cow within trunk reach for
reassurance? Could the placenta or water be introduced to the other
cows for inspection? Will the mother have milk immediately or not?
Can the calf reach the teat or will it need help? How much nursing
is required at a time? These are some of the questions to ask.
COMPILATION/ANALYSIS OF FORMULAS
Various formulas for lactose and soy products exist and if the
most recent are not included in the Infant Diet Care Notebook, updates
should be sought once the pregnancy is verified. Milking of the
lactating cow, or serum derivatives to allow the proper immunities
to be instilled in the calf, are other options you may want to discuss
with the facility Veterinarian should the mother reject the calf.
Other lactating females may be advantageous to locate for emergency
alternatives.
Professionals involved with the species such as the Elephant Manager's
Group, the Species Survival Group, and Taxon Advisory Groups should
be sent the latest materials regarding the behavioral challenges
and other dietary needs of the infant. A central location to obtain
this type of information would be most useful.
RESTRAINT CONSIDERATIONS FOR CALVING
Depending on the management system used with the collection would
depend on how your facility handles this. Due to the breakdown in
behavioral control in some PC programming it may not be advantageous
to breed these animals only to loose the calf or the mother. However,
since this is the intent of housing the species perhaps alternative
housing and management should be sought.
Younger mothers seem to be more accepting and less apt toward aggression
but until formal studies are done it is hard to say. Each animal
and each pregnancy and surrounding events (diet, herd dynamics,
staff changes, facility moves or renovations, and other environmental)
can be different. A successful mother may not be the next time and
visa-versa.
HERD CONSIDERATIONS
Herd dynamic shifts should be monitored closely during pregnancy.
The herd members may be able to benefit by exposure, at least visually,
to the birth process and to smelling the placenta or water. Reassuring
truck contact and other social dynamics could make the difference
in stabilizing the animals. Ethograms of the behaviors exhibited
before and after birth of the mother, calf, and the herd are still
areas that need to be given attention.
The opportunity to use the event as exposure for the other herd
members to educate them through the observation is encouraged. Since
smell, touch, and close proximity are important among the group
this is possibly an important and overlooked area to consider. Group
learning from the herd is important and the lack of this exposure
within captive groups may be one of the reasons the birthing process
is so traumatic and success so marginal.
- CALF SPECIFICS
- IMMEDIATE INTEGRATION
- IMMEDIATE TOUCH TOLERATION
- CONSISTENT RULES OR GUIDELINES
- NUDGING OR PUSHING
- SOCIALIZATION & DESENSITIZATION OR EXPOSURE LEARNING GUIDELINES & DEVELOPMENT
- EARLY TRAINING
IMMEDIATE INTEGRATION
If the calf is left with the mother this is minor. Introduction to the other cows is the next hurdle. If mother has not accepted it, mom is the first introduction. If she is hostile to the baby, then introduce it to each cow in the herd prioritizing the introductions by tolerance or stability of those animals. The baby should not be left unattended by humans in these interactions or introductions.
IMMEDIATE TOUCH TOLERATION
From the earliest hours, the baby should be desensitized to touch. They will need to learn to tolerate touching all areas of their body: Everythingeyes, ears, mouth, from the tip of the trunk to the end of the tail; from the top of their head and back, to the bottom of their feet; everyday touch them, massage them. Once they are more coordinated, gently begin to look at their feet and teach them the word for that behavior(foot), once they mature and begin to notice other things around them, you can teach them the difference of right and left, etc.
CONSISTENT RULES OR GUIDELINES
ALL humans in the department, whether they are cleared on handling
the other animals in the herd or not, must be able to handle/control
the baby. This teaches the baby at a young age to not disrespect
anyone in their sphere. That is why it is important to be selective
with who is interacting with the youngster.
Keep the number of people who are working with the calf to a minimal.
You do not really need to socialize them or expose them to tons
of people early on. They don't need to experience everyone in the
world! Your goal is to create a sound little spirit and to do this
they need stability. The more humans involved with the baby allows
more opportunity for the youngster to acquire inappropriate/naughty
behavior. Have PR and others in to fulfill those commitments but
monitor and control those interactions for the welfare of the animal.
Behaviors here can be done slowly and gradually using natural behaviors
and "capturing them" while pairing them with a verbal cue. The most
important aspects are to respect the human space and not push or
rub on a human. Trunk etiquette is also important. Keeper relationships
with the animal is extremely important especially within a herd
structure.
NUDGING OR PUSHING
Anticipating trouble and avoiding setting up situations are good
strategies but you must be able to stop this behavior of pushing
at a young age. This is highly desirable since they will be less
inclined to try it again later once they learn the rules.
Young animals should not have a hook used on them. Their behavior
can be shaped in fun short interactions or from play. They need
to feel trust and look to you for guidance. Set the rules and stick
to them. All the staff must be consistent and the less extraneous
interactions with other people, the better. To shape and mold the
baby properly, it needs to have clear guidelines, consistent and
reliable people, and persistent application of techniques.
SOCIALIZATION & DESENSITIZATION OR EXPOSURE
In working with babies, and specifically with the more complex species,
it is always good to look at strategies used with humans. Most human
babies will be socialized, taken to new areas, given new toys, talked
to, given words to go with new items or activities, and introduced
to other living things. If you are going to bring up a well-rounded
individual who is stable in most circumstances you will want to
do similar things with an animal baby. The most important factor
here is that whatever you allow in the nursery will be taken out
into the exhibit and into adulthood. A baby of several hundred pounds
will be a very large creature of several thousand and their future
keeper or trainer's life will depend on what you instill early on
in the nursery atmosphere.
LEARNING GUIDELINES AND DEVELOPMENT
Babies can begin to grasp some concepts around six weeks. They are
all different and these concepts are usually basic ones. When bottles
become less frequent and with the introduction of solids, their
minds have time for other things. Solids are usually being taken
in regularly within six months. While most will wean in captivity
at two years, they aren't weaned in Asia until about 4 years. More
structured training can begin at two years, if you have done the
early work well and built a good foundation, this should be a snap.
Youngsters really do not have a clue. In the beginning they will
look for the bottle then look for you. That is the first association.
Use that link to do exercise and baths; Hydrotherapy and Walking.
Later the calf will get curious, and will automatically begin demanding
more attention and restrictions. The same rules to deal with these
things should be followed by all staff.
Again, the trunk and other body parts need to be manipulated and
touched. The trunk should also be held a lot. And no pushing! Little
bulls will take more liberties and you will need to take control
sooner. The space around you is sacred, they need to learn to respect
it.
Most youngsters will learn to use their nose right away in some
form. Each has their own development schedule and some will take
longer to become coordinated. Providing various toys, barrels, balls,
wood shavings, etc., will help. Hay, pellets, apples, sweet potatoes,
and other foods are okay to introduce as long as they are very finely
chopped to prevent choking. These items will be picked up and played
with as will small pieces of browse. That's how they learn what
to eat if they are with mom; they also begin to explore everything!
Manners are also important to instill in these babies. One facility
visited recently was working on "Donor Etiquette" basically it was
"take-the-tidbit-nicely-and-don't-slime-the-donor!" When working
with babies, or any animal, be clear about the rules and let others
know what the rules are. If they aren't allowed to do something,
tell the people visiting or interacting beforehand, then take control
before the rule is broken. Prevention is always the best strategy.
EARLY TRAINING
If you have taken care of the calf in the proper manner your training
program will really already be done! There are other areas to consider
implementing depending on where the animal could end up later in
life.
Teaching the calf not to bolt or to walk with you in other areas
outside the exhibit yard and sphere of familiarity is important.
Tolerating restraint and learning to stand still also fall into
this category.
They must also be introduced to chains and a girth strap. Most babies
will need to be introduced slowly to get used to things and have
an understanding of what they are. Tethering, straps or mock saddles
are some of the other items to introduce and don't forget trailering
or crating with the mother (if she is open to it) and then alone
(without transport or confinement at first).
The basics should always include the standing still and laying down,
using the nose as a guide, and tail-up. Lessons taught can depend
on what the animal's future may be and how receptive they are.
You can mold how receptive they are and that really depends on how
you handle the baby and the introductions to new things or behaviors.
Give and take, and mimicry also work as strategies. The biggest
mistake with babies is to let them take too many liberties with
people. There are individuals (animals) with predisposition's to
certain behaviors which can get worse when they get older. That
is why you need to shape and direct the baby from birth.
RECORD KEEPING & ETHOGRAMS
The current population of elephant babies in the United States and
in England provides us with unique opportunities to conduct behavioral
development studies in captivity. Those records can be extremely
important to developmental studies and training success. If your
facility currently has a baby and is not engaged in this type of
study, it is highly recommended that the research department, local
college, or current staff work at documenting this unique opportunity
from a behavioral development angle.
OTHER
To properly address all angles of this issue is beyond the scope
of this column. The intent here is to stimulate your thinking and
to impress upon staff involved in animal care just how important
your behavioral observations and notes are. You create the foundation
for the future care of those species entrusted to your care and
those of other caretakers.
Socialization with other animals of the same species is critical.
The ideal situation would be to place a baby who is not being mother
raised into a group who is mother-rearing and herd socializing a
baby. This cooperative effort between institutions would be very
beneficial, not only to the individual animal, but to the captive
population of elephants in general. There are as many different
opinions on this topic as there are individuals dealing with it.
One of the most consistent suggestions is to get professional help
from those outside your institution who have the unique experience
in rearing these animals and who will have another perspective.
Some opinions shared stated a preference to wait a year before interactions
to avoid "making the animal a pet" or creating too strong of a bond
with human staff members.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Personal thanks to the numerous individuals who have shared their
views and experiences through various conversations and articles.
Special thanks to the Elephant Manager's Association, Alan Roocroft,
Charlie Gray, Chuck Doyle, Colleen Kingzley, and the staff members
of the various institutions now engaged in rearing young elephants
in a captive environment.
Are you a reader with a question? Be sure to submit it--and good luck in all your training endeavors!
About the columnist: Since 1978 Diana L. Guerrero has worked professionally with both wild and domestic animals. Guerrero has been affiliated with, and certified by, a variety of animal programs in the USA and Europe. Based in California, she writes, consults, and speaks. Information on her animal career programs, training courses, and her books {What Animals Can Teach Us about Spirituality (SkyLight Paths, 2003), Blessing of the Animals (Sterling, 2007), Help! My Pet is Driving Me Crazy (Guerrero Ink, 2007), Animal Disaster Preparedness for Pet Owners & Pet Professionals (Guerrero Ink, 2007)} can be found in this web site and in the shop. Questions for Guerrero should be submitted via the blog comments or membership forum.
