Transforming Aggression
Transforming Aggression Towards a Specific Person: This male tiger at Copenhagen Zoo displayed persistent aggressive responses—growling, staring, sustained vigilance—toward one specific caregiver, behaviors maintained by negative reinforcement through the distance they produced from this individual. Rather than pairing food with his approach, which had previously produced conflicted responding, caregivers used negative reinforcement shaping within the constructional approach framework: the caregiver stepped forward briefly, then withdrew before an aggressive response occurred, reinforcing calm behavioral indicators with distance. After eight sessions totaling 42 minutes, the tiger's aggressive responses toward this caregiver fell out of his repertoire, and he began chuffing—an affiliative vocalization—upon hearing the caregiver's approach, allowing a transition to positive reinforcement-based medical training and educational presentations.
Video Credit: Annette Pedersen, Copenhagen Zoo
Addressing Fear
Addressing Fear of the Microchip Reader: A group of rabbits at Copenhagen Zoo needed to be microchipped for identification but displayed escape and avoidance responses to the reader. Caregivers presented the reader at a distance where the rabbits showed calm behavioral indicators, then withdrew it immediately—using distance as the reinforcer withing a constructional framework for calm responding—while pellets were available on a separate contingency throughout the process. As calm responses were gradually shaped with distance, the rabbits began remaining near and approaching the reader, at which point food delivery was shifted to be contingent on proximity to and contact with the device.
Video Credit: Annette Pedersen, Copenhagen Zoo
Mitigating Frustration and Lack of Compliance
Building Touch Behavior Through Genuine Choice: A female giraffe at a private facility displaying limited engagement with tactile stimulation was being trained for a touch behavior to support medical care. Caregivers placed feeding devices delivering the same grain used in training throughout her habitat, so that at any point during the touch-training procedure, she had an equally available alternative behavior—accessing food from a device rather than engaging with the caregiver. This structure maintained genuine choice and ongoing assent throughout training: she rarely used the alternative option, unwanted kicking behavior dropped out of her repertoire, and the touch behavior was established rapidly.
Video Credit: Barbara Heidenreich, Animal Training Fundamentals
Resolving "Unsolvable" Problems
Transforming Fear and Aggressive Responses: A black bear at OC Zoo displayed jaw-popping and paw-slapping toward staff when two or more people entered her space, behaviors maintained by the distance they produced. Caregivers began at a distance where she showed calm behavioral indicators, then gradually shaped small relaxed responses—shifts in posture, changes in ear position, remaining stationary—by withdrawing whenever those responses occurred, a constructional negative reinforcement shaping procedure. Within twenty minutes, two people were able to remain close to the bear while she displayed calm behavioral indicators, establishing a foundation for subsequent positive reinforcement-based medical training required for a health condition. Prior to the intervention the problem had been unresolved for many months using traditional approaches involving systematic desensitization and counterconditioning.
Video Credit: Barbara Heidenreich, Animal Training Fundamentals