Good Boy

Here are a few pictures of elephant training with our Bull elephant Boy.

He has now learnt that when I ask him to do a "head-target" he will get a reward if he touches his head to the end of the stick. He's very good at it, and only misses a few if he gets distracted by noises outside the enclosure or if the vets come to watch (like most zoo animals, Boy really is not fond of vets).

I've started getting Steve and the Head Keeper of elephants involved now as they will need to be able to train Boy whilst I am away at the German Elephant School in November. Boy is responding well to them and I think they will all work together nicely.

Once everyone can do the Head Targets, we will move onto another behaviour. Boy and I have started working on the next behaviour but it is not ready to pass onto the others yet.

Boy just moving towards a head target

Moving to a target at the end of the training wall

Touching his head to the stick for a reward

Good Elephant

Well done Boy

Steve having a go

Steve rewarding the elephant for being good

Well done Steve

Dancing Bears

Steve and I have been to the circus again.

I'm not really sure why.

There were some great acrobatic acts and the clowns were very funny.

This time there were a lot more animal acts than last time (I put photos here a few months ago). They had the same lion and tiger act as before, so I haven't put any pictures of that again.This time there were lots of monkey acts, leopards riding horses, the biggest sea lions I have ever seen and bears with muzzles and shackles jumping over dogs.

It's crazy, there are species in circuses that we are trying to conserve and save through zoo work, yet there they are in the circus riding motorbikes and swinging on the trapeze! Unbelievable.

People love it here, they laugh and applaud the whole way through. Having read the UK newspapers online recently, to see an animal circus in the UK (and there are only one or two) you have to fight your way through an army of anti-circus protesters. Here there are none, just people ready to pay to see the spectacle.

People bouncing on rubber tubes

Skipping on rubber tubes

Monkey on a pony

Monkey doing a handstand

Monkey riding a bike

Monkey on a trapeze

A good circus act

A bear jumping over dogs

Skipping bear

A bear far too close to the audience

A bear rolling a tube on his feet, just before taking a swipe at the trainer

Handstand bear

Flying bear

Bear driving motorbike

Bear driving motorbike

Young leopard

Leopard on a horse

Two leopards on horses

Leopards on horses

Massive sealion on ball

Climbing sealion

Sealions too close to audience

Sealion on a stick

Sealion on left is the one from the show and is pretty big, the enormous one on the right was not in the show and is bigger than a cow

Copenhagen

Steve had a lovely trip to Copenhagen, and managed to fit in a bit of touristy time while he was there. The conference was good and he managed to meet up with a lot of friends from UK and European Zoos. I think the chance to speak English with lots of people was also good! Here are some of his photos:

Conference Centre

I am not sure why Steve is holding that man's foot

Steve being super-strong

Super-strong again

Steve being bitten by a snake

Steve at the Little Mermaid statue

Flamingos

A monkey enclosure that looks like the Giant's Causeway

Monkey (can't remember what species)

Roof of Norman Foster Elephant House

Elephant enclosure

A pile of elephants

Elephant enrichment

Big Bull elephant

Lots of lions

Lots of tigers

Aeroflot plane