Animal Behaviour Matters

30/11/2025

29/11/2025

Quokka enrichment

28/11/2025

“In the label learner dogs, three distinct character traits were found to set them apart:

Curiosity—a heightened interest in objects that were new to them
Focus—specific interest in certain objects
Inhibition—an ability to control their reactions to certain objects.”

Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it could prove to be one of the keys to dogs' cognitive abilities, according to a study by the University of Portsmouth's Dog Cognition Center in England and the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena's DogStudies Unit in Germany.

28/11/2025

27/11/2025

Dingo muzzle training

25/11/2025

History in the making! 🌟 We are thrilled to share that Mukhi has become the first Indian-born cheetah to birth 5 healthy cubs in Kuno National Park. This achievement is a significant step forward for the ambitious Project Cheetah.

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24/11/2025

23/11/2025

Pollination by mammals!

23/11/2025

Crocodile training for voluntary blood draw

22/11/2025

Yesterday wrapped up the week long learning at the Australasian Animal Training conference with a visit to Sydney Zoo for elephant training sessions - demonstrating some of the scent discrimination training done with the elephants. The conference overall highlights were not only hearing thought provoking presentations from Ken Ramirez, Dr Susan Friedman, Tim Sullivan and Amy Schilz, but the case studies and stories from such a variety of species. The whole theme of the conference highlighted advances in applications of behaviour science to use positive reinforcement skilfully with both animals and human colleagues, seeking ways to create safety and rewarding interactions with clients and colleagues and discussion around goal based enrichment to ensure the effects are moving towards welfare improvements whenever enrichment is considered. It was really exciting to see more shark and fish training focused talks, more discussion around training the often overlooked Australian native species and our three favourite talks were the talk by Jacob Leto on highlighting focus of training for ageing and elderly animals in human care, about a bongo who increased behavioural repertoire and improved wellbeing - a topic very much needed and appreciated as we all need to invest more in ageing animals wellbeing; Rebecca Baldwin’s talk about building up a relationship between two otters from adversity to companionship was not only well told, it highlighted efficacy of evidence based approaches to improving animal interactions and Calum Torcasio’s talk on dental health training with dingoes. Live demonstrations across the week of chimpanzee emergency recalls and enrichment, seal training, bird show flight displays, elephant scent activity and swimming sessions and cassowary crate training sessions were all great. Finally, another highlight was the opportunity to climb Sydney Harbour bridge with colleagues and friends.