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The New Zealand Army has gotten hands-on advice from Sumatran tiger, chimpanzee, and sun bear keepers at Wellington Zoo to gain insight into civilian animal behaviour and handling techniques.
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Military dog handlers from 1 Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment and 2 Engineer Regiment in Linton conducted annual field trips to the 13-hectare zoo in Wellington to adapt the animal behaviour training and science.
The New Zealand Defence Force utilises both explosive detection dog units as well as apprehension-based canines.
Wellington Zoo animal keeper Holly McDonald, who specialises in the zoo’s carnivores, said she trains the zoo’s residents to present themselves to the mesh so they can undergo treatment, injections, and health checks.
“There are verbal and physical cues, the animal will present different parts of their bodies to the mesh, for keepers to check for any abnormalities,” she said.
“It sounds really simple, but this kind of training can take a while, perhaps a couple of months. Depending on the individual, it could take about two years.
“It’s about what really works for them (for the animal’s personality). We really have to break it down, and we film our sessions and view them back, watching what the animal does, what mistakes we make, where we can improve ourselves.
“We write reports on what is successful and what isn’t. We’re looking at their physical well-being, their emotional and mental state, and their health.”
The zoo primarily focuses on positive reinforcement to foster short-term cooperation, rather than a potentially stressful sedation.
Keepers use food as a motivator to encourage desired outcome from the animals but also avoid reward-seeking behaviour, according to keeper McDonald.
“We are here to build relationships with animals, but we don’t want them to be looking out for us all the time. We want them to have natural behaviours,” she said.
“Senja, the female Sumatran tiger, needs to get an injection every two weeks to counter her natural allergies.
“I remember the time we injected her and she didn’t move. (Success is) knowing you can do it and the animal is calm.
“There’s not many people we can talk about animal training that aren’t from a zoo. Each time the Army comes, I learn something new each time. When it comes to animals, there’s always something to learn.”
Corporal Blair Craven, 1RNZIR ISD Section IC, said the zoo trips are a chance for handlers to see the latest methods in animal handling and training.
“What we see is the amount of positive training they do. The majority of our dog training is positive, but we do need to correct misbehaviours. That’s something they can’t do,” he said.
“They are very methodical, a lot more leading-edge with the science. Being military, we only have a certain amount of time to get an animal ready to work, to deploy. With the zoo, they spend a lot more time on particular moments.
“It was interesting to see how they (the chimpanzees) operated as a troop. When our senior, more alpha dogs, do something in front of the younger dogs, the younger ones will learn.
“So quite often, when we do training, the senior dogs are on the outside, doing the work, and the less senior dogs will be in the middle, watching. At the zoo, we saw how a chimp, at four months old, sits there and watches what his mum does.”
