behavior
Photo Š Lara Joseph
Moluccan cockatoo Rocky came to author Lara Joseph with many behavioral issues, one of which was an ear-piercing scream which occurred once every four seconds and lasted for hours at a time. Joseph took a few different approaches in changing the screaming behavior, including teaching him how to forage; here, he is foraging from a foot toy
I care for and train many exotics but, unfortunately, I cannot provide hundreds of miles for them to roam or fly. I find that when we restrict one natural behavior, we had better be sure we provide an outlet for that behavior in another form. If we don't, another will replace it, and it's not likely to be one we consider to be desirable, much less in the best interest of the animal in the long run. How, though, does a migrating vulture who, in the wild, would fly hundreds of miles, expend anything close to that same energy in captivity?
Individualized Enrichment
The first thing to point out is that, having observed many, many exotic or wild animal enclosures, I often find a lack of enrichment. What is more concerning is the lack of individualized enrichment. Many of these animals are reared and raised in captivity, some with their parents and others without. This form of rearing gives immediate rise to behavior concerns due to being imprinted and/or not knowing how to interact with their environment, but focus on the individual is often not addressed due to lack of time or education. Providing an animal with the enrichment, such as branches, browse, streams, rocks, and dens, he would find in his natural environment is not enough. These are just objects. What is lacking here are the problem-solving challenges animals in the wild encounter every day. What purpose does a stream serve for an Asian fishing cat if it has no fish, or fish that have no opportunity to escape? The cat can quickly capture the fish, then what does he do with the 233â „4 remaining hours in the day? Where are the opportunities to dive and hunt underwa-
I find that when we restrict one natural behavior, we had better be sure we provide an outlet for that behavior in another form. If we don't, another will replace it, and it's not likely to be one we consider to be desirable, much less in the best interest of the animal in the long run. How, though, does a migrating vulture who, in the wild, would fly hundreds of miles, expend that energy in captivity? 50
BARKS from the Guild/January 2019
ter? Simply put, where's the challenge? Many captive enclosures lack opportunities for animals to learn new things and exercise their brains by figuring out and completing tasks. In the wild, animals are focused on breeding, rearing their young, hunting, avoiding predators, socializing, roaming, or migrating in herds or flocks. Their bodies have evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to withstand long durations without food, hibernation, drastically changing temperatures, and humidity, as well as elaborate respiratory systems to support their energy levels and behaviors that have evolved to communicate with conspecifics. In managed care, often breeding is restricted or under human control and selection. Rearing of young is monitored before the young are moved to new enclosures. But it is social complexity that is probably the hardest to manage. There just isn’t the space available to safely provide this. Also, with companion situations, exotics are often housed singly. It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that ARBs are abundant. The more concerning cases of all are the animals that do not interact with their environment. These are the ones that sit staring out from a window and showing environmental disconnect. I am not pointing fingers here. My goal is to educate on how we can do better. We certainly have much room to improve. At my training center, I have several species that are housed singly for safety purposes. I do encourage them to interact with each other vocally or visually through cage bars and I will also reinforce them with my attention for engaging with each other (if my attention is a reinforcer, which it often is with the social exotics). If the time has been taken to understand behaviors via body language accurately, I will try to let them interact physically with space, supervision, and training. Many times, these animals come to me as imprints on humans who do not know how to interact with their species. With a new animal, I implement a training and behavior modification plan immediately by observing what he will interact with inside and outside his enclosure. From there, I consistently shape engagement with me, items in his enclosure, and other animals. I also incorporate steadily increasing levels of complexity in enrichment, socialization, and training. This approach requires balance, as it does with domestic animals too. One of the typical behavior concerns to be aware of with social, exotic animals housed singly is the relationship they form with their trainer through positive reinforcement training. This complex form of enrichment can easily lead to separation distress and anxiety, so takes consistent management and a balancing act. The importance lies in enrichment, primarily foraging. With enrichment in the form of foraging, I include goals, intermittent schedules of reinforcement, offering choice and learning opportunities through the manipulation of objects, the shaping of gradual increases in complexities, and the ability to control or increase focus through incorporating these challenges. With all of these, I begin seeing animals engaging with their environment and exploring their enclosures in search of the next task. Frustration is abundant in animals who do not have opportunities to solve tasks. This is often in the form of the enclosure itself whereby the animal sees things he wants but is not able to attain. In addition, animals do not usually have access to engage with people or other animals. Again, this is a source of frustration and it can fine tune ARBs in minute behaviors such as the same vocalizations in contact calls, touching the cage bars in the same spot while flipping, or bouncing or rocking from side to side. Most of these situations can be modified through training and foraging, however. Meanwhile, organizations and individuals that do understand the importance of foraging but do not have an understanding of shaping, often provide enrichment that is too complex for any individual animal, resulting in the animal initially engaging but then giving up. Situations like this can lead to the keepers saying they have tried but that it doesn't work. Providing enrichment that is too complex for an animal can lead to a shift in behavior issues or reinforce current behavior issues related to stress. Studies show that animals actively interacting with environmental en-