Why Train Animals at the Oregon Zoo?

Whether it’s health care, habitat design, diet or enrichment, animal welfare guides every decision made at the Oregon Zoo. Barbara Heidenreich, a world-renowned animal-behavior specialist, recently sat down with the zoo to discuss the important role training plays in animal well-being. Heidenreich - who has trained thousands of animals, from rats to rhinos - works with animal-care professionals, pet owners and conservationists to help foster the human-animal bond. Recently, she and the zoo have collaborated to help rescued orangutans in Borneo return to the wild.

[@annm4833]

I like the Cheetah running up to the fence with the ball.. that was so cute! 😄🐅 I love positive reinforcement training with animals, it creates a bond with them.

[@Powerranger-le4up]

The type of training works on children too.

[@alexallen9640]

Nice video Oregon zoo seeing your keepers and the animals during training sessions shows how good your bond is 👍🙂🐘

[@nehaagrawal5877]

Thanks for sharing

[@texbecks6682]

Excellent work and beautiful idea about leaving legacy of kindness to animals. So important!

[@maryngshwuling9916]

Thanks for sharing 🌻

[@headcoatee]

lovely video. Do you have to wash off the smell of a predator you've handled before working with prey animals? Like the cheetahs and antelope shown here.

[@annm4833]

headcoatee Good question 🤔

[@lljl5310]

Thank you for the upload...you guys are awesome!!! ❤❤❤❤

[@SeeSpotBiteJane]

Yay! I've been hoping for a video about this for a while!

[@IvynaJSpyder]

I love this! Any of those bs 'alpha/dominance' dog trainers especially need to see this. If people can train wild animals without use of force or punishment, there is no reason it shouldn't work with domestic dogs.

[@coolthinghere6853]

'alpha' theory is only accurate to wolves that dont know each other too. in a group the dynamic is very different. chicken flocks are more accurate to 'alpha' nonsense lol

[@nehaagrawal5877]

I love this

[@AustinSPTD1996]

This was quite informative. Thanks for sharing this. :)

[@neutralnarwhal8184]

Thorndike's Law of Effect: Actions which lead to a positive outcome are more likely to be repeated while actions which lead to a negative outcome are less likely to be repeated.

[@Kim-lc3fv]

Very informative video! 👍

[@brad9343]

I love this video, it is the best. Edit: 2:31 did you really train a tiger or cheetah?

[@ytwatcher2021]

Yep apparently so