Rhino Husbandry Manual
Greater One Horned Rhinoceros
Training
A husbandry training program is considered an integral component of progressive animal husbandry programs in zoos today. Providing zoo-managed animals with choices and behavioral opportunities in their environments through a training program can result in healthier animals and better educational experiences for the zoo visitors. Training rhinos leads to a wide variety of animal management opportunities, from shifting to safer, less stressful medical procedures.
The purpose of this chapter is to give trainers an idea of the types of behaviors that can be trained with rhinos (Appendix B). This chapter will also give direction on starting a training program, ideas for shaping techniques, possible reinforcements, specific challenges to training rhinos, and resources for additional training information.
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Setting Up a Training Program
A well-planned, consistently delivered training process is critical to the success of any program. To achieve this type of program many facilities utilize a framework that is taught in an Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) course, Managing Animal Enrichment and Training Programs. This framework is called the “SPIDER” model. Steps in this framework include: Setting Goals, Planning, Implementation, Documentation, Evaluation, and Re-adjusting. For more information on this process, please see www.animaltraining.org. It is beneficial to start a training program by determining the overall behavioral goals (i.e., detailing the specific behaviors to be trained). During this goal development process it is important to include all parties involved with the management of the animals. This may include meeting with and seeking feedback from keepers, veterinary staff, nutritionists, behavioral husbandry staff, curators, and managers. Having everyone on the same page with clearly laid-out plans, assignments, and timelines helps to facilitate a smooth process. Defining roles and creating clear channels of communication and decision making authority among all participants is also important. This can be accomplished through regularly scheduled team meetings, a consistent method of documentation, and continual communication among all staff involved in training. Facility design can have an effect on setting up a training program. Discussions must also include how the rhino will be reinforced. The next two sections will discuss both of these topics further.
Behaviors
Facility
When beginning a training program, it is important to start training in an area that is safe for the animal care staff and the animal, and where the rhino is comfortable. This is usually the night quarters or holding area (Fig. 4.4). Training can also be done in barn stalls, outdoor barn paddocks, training chutes, or even open exhibit areas. Because all facility designs are different, training staff will have to be creative and utilize the space available. For examples of possible body positioning behaviors, see Appendix B. For many of these behaviors, trainers will require areas with no or minimal obstructions, which allow safe access to the desired body parts. It is important to remember that a fancy, expensive facility is not necessary to accomplish a successful training program, just a creative mind.
Reinforcement
A critical component in training is finding a positive reinforcement or a reward for which an animal is willing to work. In most cases, the rhino’s regular diet can be utilized for training. Any manner of storage container for the reinforcement can be used. Reinforcement items need to be easily retrieved and delivered as soon as possible after the desired behavior occurs. Reinforcement can be delivered by tossing it through posts or by hand feeding if it can be safely accomplished.
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Training Methods
There are several steps to creating a husbandry training program for rhinos. After the behavioral goals are set, a safe facility to work the animals is identified, and reinforcement type and delivery is determined, the next steps include: a) learning about the animal to be trained, b) building a relationship with that animal, and c) designing a training plan.
Natural History/Individual History
An understanding of the natural history of rhinos, paired with information about an individual animal’s specific background and level of experience, play an integral part in a husbandry training program. For example, wild-caught or hand-reared rhinos may react differently to trainers when compared to captive, parent-reared individuals. It is helpful to start training in a location where the animal is most comfortable. Some animals need to have more space around them to feel comfortable within the training environment. The space needs for a rhino often center around the size of the enclosure in which the animal is being trained. Other relevant issues regarding an animal’s space requirement may include proximity to conspecifics, other species, and issues such as noise levels and extraneous activity. Keeping training sessions short and moving at a comfortable pace for the rhino may help keep their focus. Tactile interaction is important—most rhinos enjoy being scratched. Care must be taken to avoid startling the animal or putting yourself in the danger zones—areas where the rhino is able to horn, kick, or injure someone. When desensitized, rhinos will interact positively with their keepers and will seek out tactile interaction. Keepers need to always maintain awareness and caution as startled rhinos can react violently and quickly. Studying the animal’s natural history helps to gain insight into the animal’s behavior. For more information on rhino natural history, see the Behavior chapter of this manual. Insight also can be gathered from staff, the animal’s ZIMS records, or other institutions about the animal’s individual history. There is no substitute for simple observation—just watching the rhino’s behavior in different situations, for example, what it looks like when the rhino is calm or aggressive. Watch the rhino on and off exhibit, at different times throughout the day, and when the rhino is unaware it is being observed. This will greatly help understanding and interpretation of the rhino’s behavior during a training session.
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Relationship
Developing a trusting relationship between the trainer and the animal being worked with can be very beneficial to training. If the animal is not comfortable being in close proximity to people, the rhino might back away from the trainer or try to horn the trainer. Developing a relationship can help address these issues. A relationship can be developed through normal daily animal care, such as feeding, observing, regular cleaning routines, and avoiding negative interactions. The more positive interactions the animal has with staff, the more comfortable the rhino will be. For example, instead of just putting the diet in the enclosure, the trainer can hand-feed the diet. If the animal is particularly skittish, the trainer may start by placing or tossing the food in the enclosure and sitting nearby while the rhino eats. As the animal becomes habituated to the trainer’s presence, s/he can begin to hand-feed and work their positioning closer and closer to the animal.
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Training Plans
Creating a training plan can be a good process to help trainers think through what steps they are going to take to train a behavior. One way to do this is to establish what the final behavior will look like, and then break-down the behavior into a series of small steps called “successive approximations”. Examples of training plans can be found in Appendix C.
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Bridging Stimulus
Utilizing a bridging stimulus can be a very useful tool in training rhinos but not a necessity. A bridge is a signal that pinpoints the exact moment in time the behavioral criterion was met. First a trainer must select a bridge. Common bridges used are clickers or whistles. Once selected, the trainer needs to associate the sound with the delivery of reinforcement. For example, if the bridge selected was the clicker, the trainer would click and feed, click and feed, and continue this for several sessions with the rhino. Once the association has been established, the sound of the clicker with a food reward, the trainer can begin to use the bridge to shape behaviors. For more information on a bridging stimulus, see Pryor (1984), Mellen and Ellis (1996), and Ramirez (1999).
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Shaping Behavior
For consistency, one trainer should shape new behaviors with an animal. Once the behaviors are trained and performed on cue consistently, other trainers can work with the animal. A shaping technique that works well with rhinos is using the sight of food as a lure. In most cases, rhinos focus on the food and follow it wherever it is placed. Trainers can also use their body positioning when shaping behaviors. The animal will, on many occasions, shift its body position when the trainer moves. For example, if a rhino is facing a trainer and the trainer takes a step to the left, many times the rhino will follow and shift its body to the left as well. Another useful tool in the shaping process is a target. A target is an object to which an animal is trained to touch a part of its body (Mellen and Ellis, 1996). Training a rhino to target different parts of its body is a good method of shaping many body-positioning behaviors such as standing, presenting a side of the body, or presenting a foot (Appendix C). When starting a program it is best to begin by training some basic body-positioning behaviors such as open mouth, target, and back before moving on to more complex behaviors like standing for blood collection or other veterinary procedures.
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Record Keeping
It is important for trainers to keep records of all sessions. Trainers can go back and look for patterns in behavior, which helps keep consistency among trainers and leaves a historical record for others. For an example of a documentation form, please see Appendix D.
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Safety
Establishing a safety protocol is another valuable component to a rhino training program. These protocols will allow a facility and training team to set clear guidelines to ensure the safety and well-being of the trainers and the animals. The disposition of the individual rhinos should be taken into account during any training session, and the ability to read the animal’s body language and temperament will allow the trainer to know when the rhino is agitated and the session needs to end. In general, it is advisable to end a session on a positive note and not wait until an animal is agitated. In any training session where the trainer is in close proximity to the rhino, as in blood-draws, it is important for keepers to work in groups of two or more. If there are multiple keepers involved in a session, then there are multiple people that are able to watch the keeper that is working close to the rhino, the rhino’s behavior, and the location of its head and horn(s).
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Summary and Resources
The purpose of this chapter is to give trainers an idea of the type of behaviors that can be trained with rhinos and what these behaviors might look like. This chapter provides direction on starting a training program, ideas for shaping techniques and reinforcement, some specific challenges to training rhinos, and resources for additional training information. This chapter is meant as a reference for basic training information and contains just a small amount of the information that is available.
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The following is a list of additional resources that can be helpful in developing a training program:
• Animal Keeper’s Forum, a publication of the American Association of Zoo Keepers
• Animal Training Organizations –
-IMATA (International Marine Animal Trainers Association)
-AAZK (American Association of Zoo Keepers)
-IAATE (International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators)
-ABMA (Animal Behavior Management Alliance)
-PEM (Principles of Elephant Management)
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International Rhino Keeper Association (IRKA)
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