You Can Lead a Penguin to Water, but You Can't Make It Swim becomes clinically important the moment a team has to turn good intentions into reliable action inside animal care routines, enrichment planning, staff consultation, and welfare review. For this course, the practical stakes show up in stronger welfare decisions, better staff uptake, and clearer use of behavior analysis in zoological settings, not in abstract discussion alone.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via Four Corners ABA
Take This Course →Including ethics, supervision, and topics like this one. New live CEU every Wednesday.
Join Free →In April 2020, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo completed construction of a new state-of-the-art, multimillion-dollar African penguin facility and acquired a flock of 17 African penguins (Spheniscus demersus). Surprisingly, in the following weeks keepers observed that the penguins rarely swam despite their natural history and availability of appropriately designed pools. In consultation with Behavior Curator Rick Hester and the keepers, we set about collecting evidence that led us to a successful intervention. We discussed the problem with species experts (ethologists), reviewed relevant literature, and conducted a functional assessment (FA) of the penguins' land preference (behavior). In addition to the standard FA questions (i.e., what is gained and what is escaped/avoided by staying on land), we evaluated what reinforcers were lost when they engaged in the target swimming behavior. That question held the key to understanding the problem and led to a substantial exhibit redesign and immediate and significant increase in swimming behavior. This case study highlights the benefits of including applied behavior analysis to improve zoo animal welfare and visitor experience. Learning Objectives: Participants will state at least one contribution from the field of ethology to understanding and changing the penguins' behavior. Participants will state at least one contribution from the field of behavior analysis to understanding and changing the penguins' behavior. Participants will identify a key question in this case study not typically asked with ABC assessments. Participants will identify why the intervention in this case study was chosen.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1 | General |
Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D. is a professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University. Susan has co-authored chapters on behavior change in five veterinary texts, and her popular articles have been translated into 17 languages. She teaches seminars and courses on animal learning online (How Behavior Works: Living & Learning With Animals), with students from 62 countries so far. Susan also consults with zoos and animal organizations around the world. She was appointed to the F&WS California Condor Recovery Team from 2002 – 2010, after which time the team was retired due to the success of the birds in the wild. She is currently the Chairperson of the Scientific Advisory Committee of American Humane Association (AHA) Film and TV Unit. See behaviorworks.org and facebook.com/behaviorworks.
All behavior-analytic intervention is individualized. The information on this page is for educational purposes and does not constitute clinical advice. Treatment decisions should be informed by the best available published research, individualized assessment, and obtained with the informed consent of the client or their legal guardian. Behavior analysts are responsible for practicing within the boundaries of their competence and adhering to the BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts.