Posts Tagged With: guest blog

FIELD NOTES PART II: Saving our state reptile

Reptile Supervisor Bradley Lawrence guest-blogs on ZooHoo!


A Texas horned lizard spotted at RPQR last weekend.

This guest-blog is part of a series. Click here to read Part I!

Springtime is never boring on the rolling plains of Texas. Our latest expedition to the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch in search of Texas horned lizards (aka “horny toads”) started a little rough. We arrived just in time to get an hour or so of searching in before we were forced to call it quits for the evening due to weather. The storms were severe enough to produce baseball-size hail and at last one tornado within 5 miles of us. We spent a little time in the much appreciated storm shelter.

The next morning was very wet, windy and a little cold – not a good combination for finding Texas horned lizards, but the afternoon finally warmed up, and the day turned out to be very nice. We’ve found that when conditions are sub-optimal, we tend to see only young lizards and old lizards that are thin, injured or less than prime specimens. My personal feeling is that the adult animals that are in good condition simply wait bad days out until a better one comes along. They can afford not to feed for a few days or even weeks at a time.

We release the lizards in the same spot we found them.

When we catch a lizard, we immediately start to log a GPS location. While this is happening, we measure the total length of the animal, weigh them, and record the surface temperature and UV index at the point where we initially spotted the lizard. A small electronic “chip” is placed in the lizard so we can track home range, growth, and population density. These and some other observations are all recorded in a handheld computer/GPS.  This whole process takes about 5 min. Then the lizard is released, no worse for wear, right where it was found.

Our lizard sightings are getting more frequent as spring turns into summer – these little lizards are doing very well here. We even found our first gravid (that means pregnant or egg-carrying in reptile-speak) lizard of the season. We love to see reproduction in the wild! A large female is able to lay 40+ eggs at a time. We will start to see this year’s hatchlings toward the end of July and into August.

Categories: Conservation, Reptiles and Amphibians | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Getting submerged in new training

Our hippos, Boipelo and Adhama, love to show off their skills during keeper chats!

Dallas Zoo Hippo Keepers Christina E. and Christine S. guest blog on ZooHoo!

We train almost every animal that calls the Zoo home. Training lets animals participate in their own care and enables staff to provide excellent animal husbandry. It can be something as simple as teaching the animal to shift from one space to another. Or as complex as training the animal to allow ultrasounds. Animals, like the hippos, can be asked to present certain body parts to keepers to facilitate routine checkups, or to open their mouths for teeth examinations and x-rays. To do this we use operant conditioning, focusing on positive reinforcement techniques. This means if the animal does the behavior we ask, they are rewarded. A reinforcement or reward can be anything the animal enjoys. Food is the most common reinforcer, but some animals prefer attention, tactile reinforcement, or their favorite enrichment item.

Keeper Christina E.
and Adhama during a recent training session.

At the Simmons Hippo Outpost, our hippos LOVE to show off trained behaviors that they have learned over the last year. During our keeper interactions, you may have seen Adhama and Boipelo opening their mouths to present their teeth, swimming across the pool, or targeting. Targeting is one of the first behaviors most animals learn because it is a good starting tool that leads to more complex behaviors. Adhama and Boipelo are asked to touch their noses to the end of the target. Their target stick is a long bamboo pole with a buoy on the end that’s lightweight and floats, making it ideal for our hippos. This behavior is typically easy to teach.  Most animals are curious by nature, so when the target is first presented they want to examine it and come closer. After they take that first step towards it, they’re rewarded. They continue to be rewarded the closer they get until finally touching the target. Once the animal learns that touching this target gets them a reward, it becomes one of their favorite behaviors.

Keeper Christine S. works with Boipelo on target training.

We recently started training some behaviors at our underwater viewing area, which brings Adhama and Boipelo so close that you just might think you’re in the water with them.  Boipelo is a pro at targeting underwater, while Adhama prefers to stay above the surface at the moment. Boipelo tends to be shyer in front of crowds and lets her boyfriend shine. Adhama definitely likes to monopolize the spotlight and will do some targeting, opening his mouth, and moving back and forth across the window.

 

In Greek, Hippopotamus means “river horse,” and they do look like graceful horses trotting in slow motion underwater. However, don’t let this fool you! Hippos are actually closest related to whales and dolphins. With this up-close view you can really examine them to see some of the similarities they have with their relatives.

The training at the underwater viewing area is still in the early stages, but the hippos and trainers are enjoying this new level of interaction. Come by Simmons Hippo Outpost to see Adhama and Boipelo in action!

Categories: Africa, Simmons Hippo Outpost, Zookeepers | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

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