Archive for May 2009

May
31

Training 101: Back to Kindergarten

Posted by in Cheetah Ambassador Program,Training

Sometimes we teach an animal how to do something then one day they won’t do it any more. Maybe they forget, maybe they’re confused, we don’t always know why. Regardless of the reason, one way we fix it is to “go back to kindergarten”, a trainer’s term for taking a few steps backward in the process.

After a few sessions of really speedy running, the cheetahs started to slow down. There are a couple ways we could handle this. The first method is to find something else that makes cheetahs want to run fast. Hmmm, what could that be…

img_1745

Ha Ha. Carnivore keepers think they are SO funny

Cheetahs love to chase things. In fact, they can’t help it, if something is moving, they want to chase it. When they were little, one of their favorite games was to chase a ball. Ta-dah! we found a way to get the cheetahs to run again. And lick the camera, what’s that about?

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May
29

Training 101: Positive Reinforcement

Posted by in Cheetah Ambassador Program,Training

The principles of animal training are the same for all species, from your dog at home to a cheetah at the zoo. Our favorite training method is positive reinforcement – simply put, when the animal does what the trainer asks, they get something they like (which in the case of cheetahs is a big pile of meat). The animal then makes a positive association with that behavior and wants to do it again.

As I mentioned earlier, we want to show off the cheetah’s speed. Contrary to popular opinion, cheetahs don’t spend their day racing around at 65 mph. Running is a lot of work, especially when your food just sits on a plate waiting for you.

The cheetahs were already trained to come to the trainer when called so we started by calling them out to the front of the exhibit. The faster they run, the bigger the treat. Check out the Cheetah Cam:

Fast running = Big Pile o’ Meat. See, this isn’t that hard.

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May
28

It's Show Time

Posted by in Cheetah Ambassador Program

dog-and-cheetah-at-bec-lawn

the whole gang out for a walk

 

Some of you may have seen the cheetahs and dogs out in the zoo, but we also wanted to provide some great guest experiences at their exhibit as well. 

We are working on developing a show, for lack of a better word. Now don’t get too excited, there won’t be any dance numbers or costumes – our show will focus on the animals’ amazing adaptations and behaviors.

 

 

 

tusker-napping

cheetahs schmeetahs, I need a nap!

 

So what’s so cool about cheetahs and dogs?

Well, everybody knows cheetahs are fast – in fact, they are the world’s fastest land mammal. So we’ll show off their speed for sure but a few other things as well.

The dogs like to show off that they can do anything cheetahs can do and maybe a few other tricks as well. More on that later…

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May
26

Forest the Sllooowww Loris

Posted by in Funny,Mammals,Natural Encounters

Don't Worry Be Happy

Don't Worry Be Happy

So much here at the Houston Zoo goes unnoticed by the casual visitor. Take for instance my personal favorite Zoo animal, Forest. He’s a slow loris.

And…I…mean….sllloooooowwwwwwwww…

Not only does Forest move in super slo mo, he’s usually curled up in a ball in his tree – so he’s tough to spot. But if you can use your Where’s Waldo skills to find him, you won’t forget him.

We adopted him from Moody Gardens after Hurricane Ike.  He’s so calm and laid back that he can live in peace with Asian small-clawed sea otters in the same exhibit. Pretty cool.

If I was an animal I’d be Forest the slow loris.

He’s just like me. He moves around really slow. He’s curled up in a ball most of the time. He even looks like me when I wake up in the morning.

Hit The Snooze Button

Hit The Snooze Button

Find Forest in Natural Encounters next time you visit. You won’t be disappointed.

Check out Forest on Flickr.

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May
21

Cue the Cheetah Cam!

Posted by in Cheetah Ambassador Program

Hey, that’s a little close, watch out for the —

Don’t worry, no cheetahs or cameras were harmed in this little test. Video is a great tool for animal trainers and we can use it to go back and see what worked and what didn’t work.  We’ve been taking video of the cheetahs and dogs since they arrived here and it also helps us see how much they have improved.

Of course, video also makes a great tool for a blog so we’ll be posting a lot of it here. If you want to see videos or more than just cheetahs and dogs, check out the Houston Zoo’s YouTube channel.

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