Posts Tagged ‘Training’

Aug
06

Everyone’s a Winner!

Posted by in Featured

Maya Ford and the Houston Zoo at the Texans Training Camp

Maya Ford and the Houston Zoo at the Texans Training Camp

As a proud volunteer for the Houston Zoo, I’m always delighted to see how many places the Zoo has a presence, by virtue of it’s participation in so many of the events and activities that go on in our community.

Take this week for example. Football is such a huge part of life here, and every year the public is invited to watch the Texans training camp in early August next to Reliant Stadium. I was there Sunday morning, and the stands were packed with adults and children alike.

Behind the bleachers there was an upbeat atmosphere, with music playing, concession stands and booths giving things away.  I went back to get some water and lo and behold, I saw the familiar green logo on a table front and center!

I walked up and met members of the marketing department seen here: Maya Ford and Nolan Vander Haagen.  They were doing a drawing for a free membership to the zoo… and had a give away wheel where lucky spinners could win prizes like a green conservation bracelet or a free ride on our beautiful carousel.

Houston Zoo give away wheel where lucky spinners could win prizes.

Houston Zoo give away wheel where lucky spinners could win prizes.

And everyone who spun the wheel got a tattoo of Toby, our new red panda (the Cutest Animal in the World!!) as well as a shiny Tiger paw print stamped on their hand in gold.

The Texans Training Camp continues through this week so if you’re going to be there, stop by, enter the Membership Giveaway and give the Houston Zoo wheel a spin!

Written by Houston Zoo Docent, Rochelle Joseph, HouZooRochelle@gmail.com
Photos by Rochelle Joseph, www.naturegirrrl.blogspot.com

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Jul
21

All About Cheetahs and Dogs this Saturday!

Posted by in Cheetah Ambassador Program,Conservation,Featured

dog and cheetah at BEC lawn-featured

Come out to the zoo this Saturday to join us for Spotlight on Species (SOS): Cheetahs. SOS is a new event developed by the Houston Zoo Keepers to highlight a the conservation of a particular species at the zoo. Previous events have focused on sifakas and patas monkeys and have been a huge success, raising money for conservation and providing a great opportunity for our guests to get in-depth knowledge about our animals.

The Carnivore staff has big plans, with a day full of keeper chats, training demonstrations, a lure course, and maybe even a meet and greet with Taji the Anatolian Shepherd Dog. We’ll have merchandise for sale (maybe even some original artwork by our cheetahs) with the proceeds benfiting Cheetah Conservation Botswana.

 

Disclaimer: some of these events will be weather dependent, we don’t ask our animals to do anything strenuous if it is too hot. But don’t worry, we’ll make it worth your time either way. Cheetahs and dogs will definitely be there and so will the staff to answer all your questions.

See you Saturday!

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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…

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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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