SUST-Academy Saturday, Feb 15 2020

Modern, scientifically based training approaches are increasingly being used in the best zoological gardens and animal husbandry facilities in Europe. They significantly promote animal and species-appropriate husbandry, because they are primarily based on voluntary work and natural learning processes that are common to all vertebrates, from cichlids to spectacled bears and from chickens to dogs.

Behavioural biologist and animal trainer Andrea Campa shows the participants how animals learn according to the latest scientific findings and how we can use this in practice (e.g. for the cooperative and stress-reduced implementation of nursing procedures and medical treatments). The participants learn how to trigger positive emotions as the basis for a cooperative, goal-oriented collaboration between humans and animals and how to build a common language for the efficient execution of desired processes in animal care / for various animal species in different areas (e.g. veterinary practice, animal shelter, zoological garden, animal-supported therapy, etc.)

Andrea Campa: My experiences as a wildlife trainer have shown me time and again that the qualities of discovery-based and reward based learning are fundamental, vital and natural abilities of all vertebrate species and that they enable highly motivated and robust training. My experiences with Mindoro the freshwater crocodile and Loro the green-winged macaw were as instructive and enriching as those with Halef the Arabian horse and Djamila the Dogo Argentino bitch".