Over the past couple of months, Alturas Wildlife Sanctuary has begun positive reinforcement training (PRT) with some of the sanctuary´s resident animals. PRT is used widely in a number of accredited zoos and sanctuaries worldwide. It is valuable in enabling animals to cooperate voluntarily with a keeper through rewarding good behavior, most commonly with a high value food. The training´s main purpose allows for the easier management of a captive animal in terms of routine husbandry and veterinary procedures, however, PRT can also be valuable to the animal's welfare and behavior.
The sanctuary first started PRT with Pechan, an orphaned, juvenile collared peccary, which cannot be released. Although cute and small now, a fully grown male, collared peccary, can weigh up to 30kg. Therefore we have started PRT in order to make routine health checks, such as monthly weigh-ins, less stressful for him. Our training will also be beneficial in the event that staff need to intervene for a medical emergency as well as training him to enter his carrier.
We have begun clicker training Pechan so that he touches a green marker with his snout. Once he does this, we click (using a regular dog clicker,) and reward him with Papaya (his favorite!) During training sessions, our veterinarian will regularly perform mock check-ups on him, such as touching his hooves (for hoofcare). Although it’s early on, it is evident that little Pechan is incredibly intelligent! Apart from the peccary, we have also started the PRT with our three whitefaced monkeys. The three capuchins were illegally kept as pets under unfavorable conditions. Visit Pechan and the three girls on one of our daily tour!
By Cristina Azzopardi Schellmann, Program Coordinator
CONTACT: Cristina Azzopardi Schellmann
