Animal Caregiving: Training Hyenas for Voluntary Crate Entry

Essay Instructions:

For this discussion, choose a particular husbandry behavior for your Course Project chosen species which would benefit the welfare of that animal. Include the following:
Clearly state the sD (discriminative stimulus), the correct and an incorrect response, and a consequence using two of the four quadrants.
Give an example of a correct behavioral response and an incorrect behavioral response which the animal may display during this training session. Remembering the Four Quadrants of Operant Conditioning, give an example of how you may respond to the correct or incorrect behavior using 2 of the quadrants.
Below your breakdown of the two quadrants, discuss (in 250-300 words) how and why this chosen husbandry behavior would benefit the welfare of the animal. Consider what you have learned from past weeks.
Support your discussion with two credible sources.
Here is an example - remember, your initial post will only have two of the quadrants filled in, and then a peer will response filling in the remaining two:
The cue: I ask the sea lion to open his mouth and I present the toothbrush
The correct response: The sea lion allows me to brush his teeth, maintaining an open mouth for up to 10 seconds.
An incorrect response: The sea lion backs away every time I approach with the tooth brush
The Four Quadrants:
Positive Reinforcement: I tell the sea lion "Good boy!" and reward with a handful of fish for allowing me to brush his teeth
Negative Reinforcement: After the sea lion allows me to brush his teeth, I no longer ask him for that behavior during that session. I’m giving him a break on the new and challenging behavior.
Positive Punishment: When the sea lion backs away from the toothbrush, I shout “HEY!” with the intention to startle him. (Remember, positive punishment does not teach the animal the correct behavior and it may break trust, therefore it should not be used or should be a last resort. But it is still important to recognize and describe).
Negative Punishment: When the sea lion backs away from my toothbrush, I exit the enclosure.
Remember that in your initial post you are only completing the cue, correct response and incorrect response as well as two quadrants.

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Animal Caregiving: Training Hyenas for Voluntary Crate Entry
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Animal Caregiving: Training Hyenas for Voluntary Crate Entry
In an effort to enhance behavioral consistency, captive management, and animal welfare, many zoo animal trainers currently use positive reinforcement training to encourage animals to willingly engage in husbandry and veterinary treatments. This practice is essential for managing the health and well-being of animals in zoos and fenced areas. In other cases, zoo keepers may incorporate secondary positive reinforcement – such as aversion-based techniques and subtle punishment to prevent animals from developing ill behaviors. Training gated hyenas is no exception, and this brings significant benefits, including improving veterinary approaches, effectively managing emergencies and enriching the animal’s overall behavior (Fernandez, 2022). The following discussion majors on training gated hyenas to willingly enter a husbandry crate as a veterinary approach to enhancing their psychological and physical welfare.
The discriminative stimulus (sD) in this case is me offering a crate with open doors in the hyenas’ zoo, communicating that the hyena needs to

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Updated on February 5, 2024

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Animal Caregiving: Training Hyenas for Voluntary Crate Entry

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