Trainer Talks and Tails

We're ending 2024 with an incredible guest, Brandon! Brandon shares his journey within the industry, including some difficult decisions he had to make in order to aid his progression to work every day with his dream species. Brandon chats about his new role, goals and skills to hopes to develop, as well as Australian Reptile Park's famous snake venom program. You can find the podcast on socials @t...

Beau has had a long career working within zoos, but for this episode we focus in on his passion and something that he loves creating, wildlife documentaries. We talk about where it all started, where Beau hopes the project will grow too and how one pretty cool person acknowledged his hard work. You can find the podcast on socials @trainertalksandtails or reach out for feedback or queries on traine...

Kellie, vet nurse for Wildlife Sydney and SEA LIFE Sydney joins us this week to chat in detail about her role as a vet nurse! We talk all about the array of species she works with, transitioning from a keeper role and how sustainable a vet nurse role can be. You can find the podcast on socials @trainertalksandtails or reach out for feedback or queries on trainertalksandtails@outlook.com.

Liz from Symbio Wildlife Park joins us to share her extensive experience and knowledge for caring for koalas in human care! We touch on the roles koalas play in zoos, how breeding is managed and how we can get involved in vital conservation. You can find the podcast on socials @trainertalksandtails or reach out for feedback or queries on trainertalksandtails@outlook.com.

Lets chat wildlife caring! We talk with Lexie Scott, a long time wildlife carer who has raised and released hundreds of native Australian animals back into the wild over her 20 years of caring. We talk about her experiences, the differences she has found with caring for different species and, of course, how to involved!

Let's chat red pandas!! Steph joins us from Halls Gap Zoo where she shares how her team were able to successful take a blood draw from the pandas! We touch on the prior behaviors that helped set this up for success and how they hope to maintain it going forward. You can find the podcast on socials @trainertalksandtails or reach out for feedback on trainertalksandtails@outlook.com.

We're joined this week by our good friend Olivia! Olivia has an incredible depth and spread of presenting experience that she's acquired across numerous roles within the industry! She shares her best advice for gaining confidence when presenting and how to set yourself up to succeed with co-presenting. Olivia has recently built her own business helping people with public speaking! You can find the...

We mixed things up this week as we love highlighting some of the amazing training that is happening within the animal community! From snakes to seals, domestic dogs and owls, we chat about some of the incredible goals people are achieving within the training world. You can find the podcast on socials @trainertalksandtails or reach out for feedback or queries on trainertalksandtails@outlook.com.

Sheryl joins us this week and shares her incredible passion for sustainability and how we can change and improve sustainability practices at work! Being an eco-queen, Sheryl has progressed in her career to now working in a behavior change role for the council. We touch on better choices that can be made, how to incorporate a green team at work and what her role entails! You can find the podcast on...

We had such a fun conversation with Adam from the NSW K9 Correctional Services Unit! Adam dives into what his role looks like and what the dogs are used for. We chat about different types of conditioning used for training the dogs, how they choose the best training type for the dogs and how the training works! Plus, the use of different reinforcers. You can find us on socials @trainertalksandtails...

The amazing Kayla, from Lone Pine, joins us this week chatting all about education roles within facilities. She shares her career background that led her to her role and why hands on education in zoo environments are so important for learnings. We chat about techniques people can use to provide the best education about the species we're lucky enough to work with. You can find the podcast on social...

Lou generously shares an insight into her incredible career working with a variety of primates in different facilities. We talk about training, how to provide the best welfare and the differences between species. Lou also chats about her role working with the Borneo Orangutan Survival group, providing enrichment and welfare to wild animals and how to get involved in field work. You can find the po...

Chris chats with us this week all about his transition from working in a zoo environment to a government role in fisheries. He shares what his role can look like and what it was like leaving the zoo industry. You can find us on socials @trainertalksandtails or reach out for feedback or queries on trainertalksandtails@outlook.com.

It's been a hot minute, but we thought we'd do a short and sweet update episode for what the last few months has looked like for us both! You can follow us on socials @trainertalksandtails or reach out for feedback or queries on trainertalksandtails@outlook.com.

Emma joins us this week to chat about a unique species! Moving from marine to arachnids, Emma shares how she was able to transfer her skill set. We touch on the importance of anti-venom programs and why its so important to maintain high standards of welfare for animals used in milking. You can find the podcast on socials @trainertalksandtails, and for feedback or queries reach out on trainertalksa...

Deane is back with us at Trainer Talks and Tails and sharing some of the incredible training they have been achieving with lions and chimps! We really focus this conversation on how the use of differential reinforcement helped manage some undesirable behaviors. You can find the podcast on socials at @trainertalksandtails or reach out for queries or feedback on trainertalksandtails@outlook.com.

To kick off season three, we were lucky enough to be joined by Kyle from Wild Enrichment. Kyle shares his tips of how to set up effective enrichment, time management and the use of behavioral husbandry to better animal welfare. You can find the podcast on socials @trainertalksandtails or reach out for any feedback or queries on trainertalksandtails@outlook.com.

To finish off this season of the podcast, we were joined by Rory Keenan from Zoos Victoria! Rory has a lot of experience in the industry with his passion primarily driven towards different reptile species. Rory chats about some vital conservation work he is participating in with earless dragons and frogs, as well as juggling being the species coordinator for Fijian Iguanas. You can find the podcas...

Sophie initially worked in zoos before moving across to field work where she spent a lot of time at a rhino orphanage in Africa. Sophie shares the day to day, feeding baby rhinos around the clock and the harsh realities of the job. Like many of us, Sophie struggled with the idea of being a zookeeper and conservationist encompassing her personality, we chat through balance and things to remember wh...

Blake joins us this week to touch on his career working across numerous facilities primarily specializing in raptors and mammals! Blake has a huge passion for enrichment and shares why quality enrichment is so important and how we can better provide it. You can find the podcast on socials @trainertalksandtails or reach out for feedback or queries on trainertalksandtails@outlook.com .

We had an absolute blast chatting with Jimmy and Renae, two giraffe specialists from Taronga Zoo! They chat all about reinforcers, challenges and of course, the training program they help maintain with the herd of giraffe. Jimmy and Renae are also extremely passionate about giraffe conservation, and they touch on what is being done to help conserve this unique species in the wild and the incredibl...

For this week's episode, we were lucky enough to be joined by Erin Oakley, from Seaworld on the Gold Coast! Erin has had the opportunity to work with a variety of marine animals and has an incredible understanding of training from her years of experience. With this, Erin helps explain some basic training terminology, with examples, that we might use daily within our facilities. She also is interes...

We're so excited to be joined by Village Road Shows Head of Entertainment and communication coach, Michael Croaker this week! With over 30 years of experience, Michael generously shares his tips and tricks for gaining confidence with public speaking and developing your skillset. We chat all about maintaining guest engagement and what to remember when writing scripts. You can reach out to Michael v...

This week we were lucky enough to sit down with 3 of Paradise Country's animal specialists to chat all about training! The girls chat about training wins and challenges, reinforcers and future training goals with all three species! You can find Paradise Country on socials @paradisecountrygc and the podcast @trainertalksandtails. You can reach out for feedback or queries on trainertalksandtails@out...

Jamie chats with us this week and shares his love and passion for elephants! We chat all about training, reinforcers and social dynamics before diving into the hot topic of protected vs full contact with elephants! Jame discusses about his experience working both, what he sees as pros and cons and what the future of elephant training might look like. You can reach out to Jamie on socials @jamiegra...