Training is an important part of animal care here at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium!

Our expert staff work closely with the animals to train them on various behaviors to help provide them with the best care. During these bi-monthly segments, we will focus on a training behavior and how animals around the Zoo demonstrate it.

Have you ever been to a chiropractor? How about an acupuncturist? You might be surprised to learn that animals sometimes need these types of therapies...just like humans!

At the Columbus Zoo, we use different treatments to help our animals. Like any behavior, training for alternative therapies begins with getting the animal used to it.

• Some animals need adjustments from a chiropractor, so they need to get used to different hands-on manipulations that might occur.
• Some animals get acupuncture treatments, so they need to be used to the feeling of a needle.
• The flamingos have to get used to wearing kinesiology tape on their legs.

As you can see in the video, food reinforcement is provided either during or after the procedure as a reward. The goal of these therapies is to help our animals live more comfortable lives.

Sometimes, the training is not as simple as getting the animal used to a procedure…the animal might need to maintain a certain position for a small amount of time.

A perfect example of this is Nico, the red-fronted macaw. Nico required laser treatment therapy for his chest, and a wooden stand was built for him to stand on for him to easily present his chest to our Animal Health team. One of Nico’s keepers, Angela, said, "Nico, a red-fronted macaw, came to the Zoo as an ex-pet, and throughout his time living here, he has shown various stages of feather destructive behavior. Nico has received nutritional, behavioral, and medical interventions to mitigate this behavior. One of the medical interventions that we have tried is laser therapy on his chest and legs, two of the main areas in which he is missing feathers. The hope was that the laser treatment would reduce any inflammation or irritation that may have been contributing to his feather picking. Nico is trained to hold his beak still on the wooden contraption until he is bridged using the word ‘good’, which indicates to him that he can remove his beak to receive a reinforcer (a piece of food). This allowed for several minutes of duration while vet staff applied the laser treatment." 

Thanks for joining us for another addition to our Training Tales series! The training at the Zoo doesn’t stop here–we still have other behaviors to share in the coming months. Be sure to stop back again soon to see what else our amazing animals can do!

Read about other Training Tales!

Crate Training  Feathered Friends  Scale Training  Injection Behavior  Natural Behaviors