- Title: Aquarium trains animals to participate in own medical care
- Date: 10th January 2017
- Summary: BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 15, 2016) (REUTERS) MANAGER OF BEHAVIORAL HUSBANDRY AND ANIMAL PROGRAMS, LIZ EVANS BRINGS MACAW NAMED MARGARET CLOSER TO EXAM TABLE VARIOUS OF MEDICAL SUPPLIES (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANAGER OF BEHAVIORAL HUSBANDRY AND ANIMAL PROGRAMS, LIZ EVANS, SAYING: "We're really learning a lot more about the intelligence of animals and that any animal can be trained to do almost anything as long as you figure out its motivation. And how you can get it to want to do it." MACAW DEMONSTRATES LYING BACK FOR LIZ EVANS, LETS HER WRAP TOWEL AROUND HER, PUT GAS THING OVER BEAK AND VET LISTENS THROUGH A STETHOSCOPE (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANAGER OF BEHAVIORAL HUSBANDRY AND ANIMAL PROGRAMS, LIZ EVANS, SAYING: "So Margaret is trained for a lot of different medical behaviors and a lot of different husbandry behaviors. She allows us to file her nails - trim her nails, file her beak. She allows us to do nasal swabs, and different swabs where we have to get samples of different body parts, if you would say. She even allows us to get voluntary blood on her. And she's trained for voluntary induction, which is where she lays back on the exam table, we put the mask over her face, turn the gas on and she'll just fall asleep. And then we can do any other procedures that she's not trained for. Lateral x-rays - the bird has to be in a very specific body position that's uncomfortable to train and they can't hold it very well." MACAW DEMONSTRATES GETTING BLOOD DRAWN MACAW HAS NAILS CLIPPED MACAW DEMONSTRATES BEAK BEING FILED (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR OF ANIMAL HEALTH AND WELFARE, LEIGH CLAYTON, SAYING: "And so if I want to be able to auscultate a bird as it is doing a voluntary mask induction, and auscultate means with a stethoscope over the chest listening to its heart, I have to make sure I tell the trainer that so that they can incorporate that into the final behavior. If I come in, if they think 'ok we're done' and I come in with a stethoscope, boom, a whole new behavior. The animal may be like, 'no that's not a part of my deal.'" JOEY THE YELLOW-FOOTED TORTOISE DEMONSTRATES TARGET PRACTICE BIRDS EYE VIEW OF TORTOISE WALKING DOWN HALLWAY CLOSE-UP OF TORTOISE WALKING TOWARD CAMERA BEARDED DRAGON NAMED NED DEMONSTRATING TARGET PRACTICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR OF ANIMAL HEALTH AND WELFARE, LEIGH CLAYTON, SAYING: "And so when we go to do a physical exam on an animal that's very comfortable working with people, it can be much much easier. And that's really important with tortoises because if they pull into their shell you can't really see anything very well. So animals that would maybe extend their head to touch a target - it allows us to do a much better exam on their eyes. If they're trained to a target you can get them to stand up high, you can see their legs a lot better so it allows us to do a much better physical exam on them. And then targeting is also a great tool to increase activity level. And you can get the animal out and moving around a lot more." ANIMAL TRAINER KRISTEN FRIZZELL GETS BLUE-TONGUED SKINK NAMED KYLE OUT OF BOX ANIMAL FOOD BLUE-TONGUED SKINK NAMED KYLE HAS NAILS CLIPPED (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANAGER OF BEHAVIORAL HUSBANDRY AND ANIMAL PROGRAMS, LIZ EVANS, SAYING: "A lot of the marine mammal field were the pioneers in this sort of voluntary participation in medical behaviors and it's turned into an amazing progression of behaviors where people can do artificial insemination on animals. They can get voluntary blood draws, they can do anything on animals by training it." BLUE-TONGUED SKINK NAMED KYLE HAS TEETH CLEANED BEARDED DRAGON NAMED CLEO HAS NAILS CLIPPED (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR OF ANIMAL HEALTH AND WELFARE, LEIGH CLAYTON, SAYING: "Yeah, we are doing amazing things with the animals and one of the benefits of being an aquarium is that we have the staff and resource to really focus on animals like fish, like some of the invertebrates that others think can't be trained. But we know they can be trained." MACAW NAMED MARGARET GETS ONTO SCALE WITH THE HELP OF LIZ EVANS
- Embargoed: 25th January 2017 10:13
- Keywords: National Aquarium Baltimore animals husbandry behaviors mccaw training veterinary care medical care
- Location: BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, USA
- City: BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, USA
- Country: USA
- Topics: Life Sciences,Science
- Reuters ID: LVA0015YHXZRV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Animals at an aquarium in Maryland are being trained to voluntarily participate in their own veterinary care. Trainers and veterinary staff at the National Aquarium in Baltimore say their training of 'husbandry behaviors' is crucial for the animals' well-being.
Take Margaret, a hyacinth macaw. She has been trained to lie back on an exam table, spread her wings for a blood draw, as well as nudge her head into a mask for anaesthesia.
"She's trained for voluntary induction, which is where she lays back on the exam table, we put the mask over her face, turn the gas on and she'll just fall asleep. And then we can do any other procedures that she's not trained for. Lateral x-rays - the bird has to be in a very specific body position that's uncomfortable," said Liz Evans, manager of the Behavioral Husbandry and Animal Program at the National Aquarium.
Trainers consider husbandry behaviors to be those that an animal may naturally do as part of its life at the aquarium. Their hope is to make it easier, faster, and less stressful for the animals to perform behaviors on demand.
Evans said positive reinforcement helps increase the welfare of the animal, making them less stressed going into procedures because of understanding what will happen to them. In addition, she believes that giving animals human contact and tasks to perform helps with their enrichment and stimulation.
"When we go to do a physical exam on an animal that's very comfortable working with people, it can be much much easier," said Leigh Clayton, Director of Animal Health and Welfare.
Clayton said the two macaws that were trained ended up doing different things in preparation for surgery. Margaret laid back, but the other bird got himself into a "little birdie taco and the mask went on," said Clayton.
The more social bird, Margaret, was once a pet before her owner passed away. She can stand on a scale to be weighed, allow staff to trim her nails, file her beak and clip her wing feathers.
Veterinarians work closely with the husbandry staff to successfully assess and treat any existing health problems, while preventing new problems from occurring.
Staff have trained other exotic animals with "targeting," such as Joey the yellow-footed tortoise. Since animals usually 'freeze' when scared, such as in an examination room, targeting can help make them move on demand.
"Animals that would maybe extend their head to touch a target, it allows us to do a much better exam on their eyes. If they're trained to a target you can get them to stand up high, you can see their legs a lot better so it allows us to do a much better physical exam on them. And then targeting is also a great tool to increase activity level. And you can get the animal out and moving around a lot more," Clayton said.
National Aquarium staff have trained certain animals to tolerate nail clippings and the pressure they feel on their skin while it happens.
Evans, who majored in conservation biology but minored in psychology, said "operant and classical conditioning" translates to both people and animals, no matter the species. Staff at the National Aquarium have taken on that challenge.
"One of the benefits of being an aquarium is that we have the staff and resource to really focus on animals like fish, like some of the invertebrates that others think can't be trained. But we know they can be trained," said Clayton.
"A lot of the marine mammal field were the pioneers in this sort of voluntary participation in medical behaviors and it's turned into an amazing progression of behaviors where people can do artificial insemination on animals. They can get voluntary blood draws, they can do anything on animals by training it," Evans said.
She says the field is progressing to where they can now do artificial insemination on animals and get voluntary blood draws for testing, for example. And the best part is, Evans says, "it's completely trained and completely voluntary" on the part of the animal. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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