Elephants Elephants - Wildpro - Twycross Zoo

process. More than one handler may introduce inconsistencies to the training
process, which may unintentionally cause confusion and anxiety on the part of
the elephant. Another variable that can be controlled is removing the
elephant being trained from its herd mates during a training session. By
having only one elephant in the enclosure when initially training the elephant
to come when called will eliminate the problem of other elephants affecting
the response of the elephant being trained. The size of the enclosure can also
have a direct effect on the handler’s initial success of training this behaviour.
Reducing the area available to the elephant by training it inside a holding
stall, instead of a large enclosure, can enhance the successful training of the
behaviour.
Developing a training protocol, or a plan of action outlining the steps to be
taken when training or shaping a behaviour, is recommended. Recording the
incremental steps in the shaping of the behaviour is a sign of a good handler
since the handler is constantly evaluating the behaviour comparing what it
was to what the trainer wants it to become. A plan of action helps the handler
evaluate their progress in reaching the goal behaviour. This progression is
often noted by handlers in personal journals or training logs.
Another critical aspect in training is recognising when to stop the training
session. Too often a handler making progress on a behaviour goes for ‘just
one more’ only to find everything fall apart. In this case it is often beneficial to
go to another, already established behaviour. By doing so the handler takes
the elephant back to something it understands and creates an opportunity to
positively reinforce the animal, ending on a positive note. Ultimately, it is
more beneficial to stop and leave the animal wanting more than to satiate the
animal’s interest or lose its motivation. Likewise, knowing when to
discontinue a time out or other punishment is equally as important.
Training should be a rewarding experience for the animal and build its
confidence. Poor training methods can cause an animal to suffer emotional
and physical distress, make it anxious, confused, aggressive and unreliable.
Once done, this emotional damage is difficult to correct.
Poor training methods include:
• Too many people training a single behaviour. It is much easier for one
individual to evaluate the progress of a particular behaviour in the
training process.
• Not following a training protocol. The protocol should consider
variations to the shaping of a behaviour, but training a behaviour
without a protocol can create confusion and undermine the elephant’s
learning.
• Not breaking a behaviour down into small enough increments.
Difficult or new behaviours should be segmented into smaller units.
These small successes provide the animal the confidence to try solving
more difficult problems.
• A situation may occur when the elephant is not ‘listening’ to the
handler and not performing the correct responses to commands. When
this occurs it is best to terminate the session and repeat it again later or
85