Touched by an Orangutan

Many would consider training exotic animals a relatively extraordinary career, and certainly it is. However, elements of it become routine, just like any other job. There are things that are repetitive and routine that are essential components of most consultations. However, every once in a while unique opportunities present themselves that forever change you and your perception of the species you encounter in this profession.

Countries and cultures interact differently with animals and as a consultant I am adaptable so that I can be of help to the facilities that hire me.  This means I have sometimes found myself working free contact with species that some cultures would consider quite hands off.  It is very much a judgment call in that moment based on the situation. And many times I have recommended we work protected contact (with a barrier between people and the animal) if I felt the situation was not safe.  In this case, Eva the orangutan was only going to hurt me by melting my heart.

I have worked with a number of orangutans via protected contact. It is a different experience. It is fairly straight forward and easy to teach a great ape to present a number of behaviors on cue, one after another in a structured training session.  Usually behaviors that allow us to provide stress free medical care. Free contact is a different story.

Eva is part of a conservation education program. She presents natural behaviors and helps educate audiences about orangutan natural history and the challenges they are facing due to unsustainable palm oil farming in Indonesia. During training sessions Eva was free to roam the area and engage in all the wonderful activities and enrichment around her. This included other people, trees to climb, new things to explore and destroy. This meant coming back to people and leaving stage was sometimes a challenge. Think of letting your dog or child play in the park.  Your job, among other things, is to make yourself and what you would like your animal to do have more reinforcing value than those competing elements when it’s time to return to you. 

This also means thinking outside the box when it comes to reinforcers. Food isn’t always the “be all end all” reinforcer. Especially when it comes to an animal that is demonstrating to you that what it finds interesting, is engaging with its environment. For this reason, we made an effort to start gathering novel enrichment items whenever we were going to be working with Eva.

We also had to pay close attention to her body language. When was the exact moment she was ready to respond to us if we were to call her so that we could reinforce quick response to the cue? We also had to start under conditions in which she could be successful. This may mean cueing her when there were few distractions and when she was close to us initially.  Sound familiar? This is basic recall training. 

So while these elements of training overlap with what many trainers already know, every time I watch this snippet of video my heart still melts. It melts because I remember the feeling when she grabbed my hand to bring me with her to go play with the towel. The thought that this orangutan wanted me to join her makes my heart swell. Perhaps it is the very human like quality of orangutan behavior that touched me so much. But having an animal want you to participate is in my opinion, the highest compliment. She often sought me out and I found myself drawn to her as much as “I think” she was drawn to me. I kept wanting to visit her and have more sessions with her; and she would recognize me and immediately come to me. Maybe it was just about good training.  But I felt connected to this individual. I grew more concerned for her well-being which in turn made me think more and more about orangutans and their plight. And suddenly I found myself really wanting to know more about the destruction of forests in Indonesia for palm oil. These were things I thought I already knew about. But here I was in Indonesia working hands on with orangutans and now I felt like I really should know more.

The more I learned, the more I realized how dire the situation was. Beyond saving a species this was about helping a third world country find a sustainable way to feed its people, build its economy; so that the horrific things that were happening to orangutans (some stories too heartbreaking to share) would not be a choice a person needs to make in order to feed his or her family.  I also realized these are the kinds of issues that really deserve media attention. (Not the ones that currently seem to get so much focus. The issues that are about targeting excellent zoological institutions questioning their care about animals…..seriously? The biggest advocates I know for animal welfare and wildlife conservation are zoo professionals.)

Yes, working free contact with orangutans is not the norm, not without controversy, and there are many more aspects to discuss. However, the experience for me was life changing. Certainly an excellent lesson in real life application of learning theory principles, but most importantly the personal connection with an individual animal motivated me to a higher level of conservation action for a species on the brink of extinction.   

As a person who works in zoological parks we often speak of trying to help people connect and inspire conservation action. I work with many different animals frequently, and every once in a while have moments that are more moving than others.  I am still deeply impacted by that experience with Eva.  I am intrigued by coming up with more ways we can help others be equally moved in a way that is healthy, enriching and safe for both animals and people. This Xbox Kinect idea is just one that has potential in my opinion. 

I hope you too have the opportunity to connect deeply with some special animals and direct your energies into something that really needs your support.

Here are Some Organizations Working to Save Orangutans- Visit Their Sites for Ways to Help

Health In Harmony

React Project

Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme

Orangutan Outreach 

The Orangutan Project 

Barbara Heidenreich 

www.BarbarasFFAT.com 

www.AnimalTrainingFundamentals.com
Copyright 2016

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provides animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara works with the companion animal community and also consults on animal training in zoos.

 

Touched by an Orangutan

Many would consider training exotic animals a relatively extraordinary career, and certainly it is. However, elements of it become routine, just like any other job. There are things that are repetitive and routine that are essential components of most consultations. However, every once in a while unique opportunities present themselves that forever change you and your perception of the species you encounter in this profession.

Countries and cultures interact differently with animals and as a consultant I am adaptable so that I can be of help to the facilities that hire me.  This means I have sometimes found myself working free contact with species that some cultures would consider quite hands off.  It is very much a judgment call in that moment based on the situation. And many times I have recommended we work protected contact (with a barrier between people and the animal) if I felt the situation was not safe.  In this case, Eva the orangutan was only going to hurt me by melting my heart.

I have worked with a number of orangutans via protected contact. It is a different experience. It is fairly straight forward and easy to teach a great ape to present a number of behaviors on cue, one after another in a structured training session.  Usually behaviors that allow us to provide stress free medical care. Free contact is a different story.

Eva is part of a conservation education program. She presents natural behaviors and helps educate audiences about orangutan natural history and the challenges they are facing due to unsustainable palm oil farming in Indonesia. During training sessions Eva was free to roam the area and engage in all the wonderful activities and enrichment around her. This included other people, trees to climb, new things to explore and destroy. This meant coming back to people and leaving stage was sometimes a challenge. Think of letting your dog or child play in the park.  Your job, among other things, is to make yourself and what you would like your animal to do have more reinforcing value than those competing elements when it’s time to return to you. 

This also means thinking outside the box when it comes to reinforcers. Food isn’t always the “be all end all” reinforcer. Especially when it comes to an animal that is demonstrating to you that what it finds interesting, is engaging with its environment. For this reason, we made an effort to start gathering novel enrichment items whenever we were going to be working with Eva.

We also had to pay close attention to her body language. When was the exact moment she was ready to respond to us if we were to call her so that we could reinforce quick response to the cue? We also had to start under conditions in which she could be successful. This may mean cueing her when there were few distractions and when she was close to us initially.  Sound familiar? This is basic recall training. 

So while these elements of training overlap with what many trainers already know, every time I watch this snippet of video my heart still melts. It melts because I remember the feeling when she grabbed my hand to bring me with her to go play with the towel. The thought that this orangutan wanted me to join her makes my heart swell. That gesture tells me something has gone well in my training choices. Perhaps it is the very human like quality of orangutan behavior that touched me so much. But having an animal want you to participate is in my opinion, the highest compliment. I found myself drawn to her as much as “I think” she was drawn to me. I kept wanting to visit her and have more sessions with her; and she would recognize me and immediately come to me. It wasn’t just about training. I felt connected to this individual. I grew more concerned for her well-being which in turn made me think more and more about orangutans and their plight. And suddenly I found myself really wanting to know more about what the destruction of forests in Indonesia for palm oil. These were things I thought I already knew about. But here I was in Indonesia working hands on with orangutans and now I felt like I really should know more.

The more I learned, the more I realized how dire the situation was. Beyond saving a species this was about helping a third world country find a sustainable way to feed its people, build its economy. So that the horrific things that were happening to orangutans (stories too heartbreaking to share) would not be a choice a person needs to make in order to feed their families.  I also realized these are the kinds of issues that really deserve media attention. (Not the ones that seem to get so much focus that are about targeting excellent zoological institutions questioning their care about animals…..seriously? The biggest advocates I know for animal welfare and wildlife conservation are zoo professionals.)

Yes, working free contact with orangutans is not the norm, not without controversy, and there are many more aspects to discuss. However, the experience for me was life changing. Certainly an excellent lesson in real life application of learning theory principles, but most importantly the personal connection with an individual animal motivated me to a higher level of conservation action for a species on the brink of extinction.   

As a person who works in zoological parks we often speak of trying to help people connect and inspire conservation action. I work with many different animals frequently, and every once in a while have moments that are more moving than others.  I am still deeply impacted by that experience with Eva.  I am intrigued by coming up with more ways we can help others be equally moved in a way that is healthy, enriching and safe for both animals and people. This Xbox Kinect idea is just one that has potential in my opinion. 

I hope you too have the opportunity to connect deeply with some special animals and direct your energies into something that really needs your support.

Here are Some Organizations Working to Save Orangutans

Health In Harmony

React Project

Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme

Orangutan Outreach 

The Orangutan Project 

Barbara Heidenreich 

www.BarbarasFFAT.com 

www.GoodBirdInc.com 
www.AnimalTrainingFundamentals.com
Copyright 2016

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provides animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara works with the companion animal community and also consults on animal training in zoos.

 

Memorable Moments with and for Animals in 2014

The year is not quite over yet, but it is hard to resist taking a trip down memory lane.  I usually like to reflect on my top three animal training related moments. This year, conservation initiatives took the top spots.

1. Working with Kakapo Chicks

Coming in it at number one has to be the opportunity to work with the Kakapo Recovery Program and this year’s chicks. Certainly training these youngsters was a thrill, but the real reward is being able to help merge science based training technology with conservation. These two fields are rarely intentionally overlapped, but the truth is there is a growing need for what trainers can contribute to conservation. One of our main goals is to reduce stress related to capture and restraint for kakapo health care. With today’s technology there are a number of ways we can accomplish this goal without impacting natural behavior adversely. Not only did we get started on this type of training with the hand raised chicks, we also developed a plan for parent raised chicks in the future.  I love that this dedicated team thinks about and explores such options. Check out these blogs to read more about the training we did with these amazing rare parrots.Why Train Kakapo?  and Powerful Parrot Training 

2. Blue Hair for Blue Throated Macaws

You gotta love viral internet campaigns. That ALS ice bucket challenge was my inspiration for the Go Blue for Blue Throated Macaws idea. Yes, I was challenged to dump ice on my head. And while I thought it was a worthy campaign, it wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. As I pondered what to do I found myself thinking about the charities I love and support. Of course my blue throated macaw Blu Lu and the Bird Endowment immediately came to mind. In jest, I texted a friend I should dye my hair blue and start a viral campaign to raise money and awareness for blue throated macaw conservation. As I was writing the text I thought “Hmmmm, I could be on to something here”. Next thing you know we have people all over the world dying their hair blue and donating to the Bird Endowment.  I never did actually find out how many people dyed their hair. But it was A LOT! And it was a blast watching people video challenge each other on social media. Some people really ended up with some amazing hair. The best news was that enough money was raised to support a bunch more nest boxes for blue throated macaws in the wild in Bolivia. The nest boxes have proven to be the most successful method of increasing the wild population to date.

3. Shaking Things Up in the Bird Training World

After 24 years as a professional bird trainer (plus another 8 years in animal care prior to that) you would hope one would learn a few things along the way. And I guess I did. I realized my current training practices were vastly different from what I had been doing for a good chunk of my career. This led me to explore the reasons why my training had changed.  Conversations with other trainers also made me realize those old practices I had left behind were a still a problem out there and they needed to be addressed.  Inspired by others I decided it was time to challenge some of the commonly accepted practices in bird training and asked the professional community to do the same.  In particular my concerns were about methods people have used for many years to create motivation for food.  I definitely ruffled a few feathers. I may have even lost a few friends over it. But I also gained new ones. Questioning some old practices started bringing amazing new people into my life. Ones who expanded my thinking about animal welfare and taught me there is so much more to learn. Some people openly attacked me in a professional setting and some hugged me with tears in their eyes, thanking me for saying what needed to be said. While it has been a bittersweet journey, (and an ongoing one) it counts as a very memorable moment for me in 2014. I am looking forward to a symposium some colleagues and I have put together on the ethics of creating motivation in animal training to further advance people’s knowledge on this important topic.

Bonus: Spending Time with Amazing People and Animals

2014 was the year of extensive travel. This meant meeting amazing animals and people from all around the world. They all have been the best teachers, mentors and inspiration. This year I had a walrus suck my thumb, a goat decide I was the object of his affection, a kakapo sit on my lap, and a giraffe give birth an hour after feeding her a biscuit to name a few fun animal moments. From people I learned about the evolution of animal emotions, had deep discussions about the use of time outs, LRS and no reward markers, discovered there are things trainers do that don’t exactly fit neatly into a category defined by behavior analysis and realized some kindred spirits live 1000’s of miles away in other countries, but are kindred spirits none the less.

I get to spend the rest of 2014 home with my animal family and friends.  I am enjoying spending my mornings training and caring for my companion animals and spending my afternoons developing new resources for those interested in training.  2015 is already shaping up to be an interesting year as well. Can it beat 2014? I can’t wait to find out. 

Barbara Heidenreich
www.BarbarasFFAT.com
www.GoodBirdInc.com
www.BunnyTraining.com 
Copyright 2014

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provide animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara also consults on animal training in zoos.