Wolf Hybrids In the classic novel, White Fang, Jack London tells the tale of an abused half wolf-half dog who finds safety and companionship in a kind, benevolent master. The wolf-dog returns the kindness with an unerring devotion and loyalty, even offering his life to protect his new-found savior from harm. For years, I thought…

In this paper, the Brelands described a number of cases with different species where strong species-specific behaviors interfered with the learning process and caused delays in performance and delays in reinforcements. They called this phenomenon instinctive drift to describe the idea that animals have instinctive, species typical behaviors.

One of the most important aspects of any profession is to continue practicing your skills and to continue working on a variety of techniques. As a result, once or twice a week, the staff along with volunteers gets together for either a presentation or hands-on training.

Pet deer attacks man! Pet wolf mauls child! Hand-raised tiger savages owner! Whenever one of these headlines flashes by my radar, I can’t help thinking, “Why would anyone want a wild animal as a pet?” Why are wild animals dangerous to keep as pets?  For one, they are not behaviorally adapted to living with humans….

All in all it was a magical hour and a half. I highly recommend that everyone who visits Chicago visit the Shedd Aquarium. It will give you a new appreciation for the husbandry training that can and should be done in all zoos.

First, the Trainers It’s a sunny morning in Folsom and something odd is happening at the Folsom Zoo. Zookeepers and staff are waving their arms, flailing their legs, and balancing in weird positions. No, they’re not there to entertain the animals. They’re playing the training game. The game where two people collude to train a…