By Nicole Lauer, nlauer@qconline.com

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Photo: Stephanie Makosky Ashley Wehmeyer, Colleen Stalf, and Whitney Paccione test Babe, a 36-year-old elephant at the Niabi Zoo, in cogitative skills. Babe had to distinguish certain scents and when she was correct, she received a treat.

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Photo: Stephanie Makosky Niabi Zoo keeper Marc Heinzman works with a Tamarin monkey to teach it various behaviors to make care easier. "It makes it easier for us and the animal so it's not a stressful situation," Mr. Heinzman said. The Tamarin had to touch certain objects Mr. Heinzman held in order to get a reward.

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Photo: Stephanie Makosky Laura Monaco Torelli, the Animal Training and Behavioral Consultant for Niabi Zoo, visits the zoo keepers every other month for two days to help build collaboration between the keepers and a relationship with the animals at the zoo. "Our goal is to help really formalize good solid foundation training programs that help with the overall care of the many different beautiful species of animals that live here," Ms. Monaco Torelli said. During a seminar on Tuesday Ms. Monaco Torelli talks with the keepers about using a clicker for training.

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Photo: Stephanie Makosky Babe, the Niabi Zoo's 36-year-old elephant, works on her cognitive skills with the zoo keepers Tuesday Feb. 16 at the Niabo Zoo. Over time she has gone from distinguishing certain objects to distinguishing scents.

COAL VALLEY -- What would you do for a handful of mealworms? Maybe you'd prefer five pounds of raw meat or $50?

Nine zookeepers at Niabi Zoo are using clicker training -- an operant conditioning method using a distinct clicking sound and a yummy food reward -- to help better collaborate with trainers to keep the animals healthy and engaged.

Laura Monaco Torelli, a Chicago animal trainer with 20 years of experience, visits Niabi two days every other month to work with zookeepers. She learned clicker training at Karen Pryor Academy. The training at Niabi, which began about a year and a half ago, improves animals' quality of life by building their trust with trainers.

The training sets small goals to build behaviors, she said, to get animals to voluntarily step on a scale, permit a trainer to examine animals' feet, hands or undersides for problems, or respond in other ways, as when a colobus monkey was born at the zoo.

"Due to the wonderful training program that the keepers have implemented here, they were able to identify the sex of the baby early on because the female was comfortable enough to come and participate in training," Ms. Monaco Torelli said.




When an animal does a desired behavior, the trainer makes a click sound and gives it a treat that varies, depending on the animal's tastes. Large cats get a ration of meat, gibbons get dehydrated fruit and giraffes clamor for apples and mulberry leaves.

"The sound of a click means 'Good job -- now you're going to get paid,'"Ms. Monaco Torelli said, "It's a wonderful distinct sound that really identifies that moment, that exact precise second, that we see desired behavior."

Colleen Stalf, Niabi's head keeper, said trainers at first thought they didn't have time to squeeze in the technique among their regular duties. Now that the animals have caught on to the positive reinforcement training, she said, the trainers have found it makes caring for them easier.

"The most important part is, we're working as a team, communicating and record keeping," she said.

Getting an animal to decide to come on its own now may take 10 to 15 seconds, instead of in the past when a trainer may have waited hours, said Ms. Monaco Torelli. Humans respond similarly, she said.

"If I want you to sit in a chair, I'd click and I'd give you $50," she said. "You would want to sit there again. If I keep giving you $50, you are going to want to stay in that chair."

The training must hinge on keeping the animals safe and comfortable, she said. Instead of forcing an animal to respond, it empowers them to make a choice, she said.




On the Web

Learn more about clicker training at Niabi Zoo at www.clickertraining.com/node/2466.