The Wild Enrichment Podcast

"In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it." Robert Heinlein. Zookeepers are faced with many challenges these days, being short-staffed, underpaid, and burnt out, and on top of all that, they have to stay on top of an extremely rapidly advancing industry. Being "Product Oriented" is aimed at helping with...

In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Jenna Congdon. Dr. Congdon is a Psychologist, specializing in comparative cognition and behaviour in animals. Her research spans many topics, from, songbird communication to training artificial intelligence to analyze Orangutan behaviour. During this conversation, we explore the exciting ways animals perceive the world, the power of artificial intelligence, how...

In this episode, I am joined by Peter Giljam, founder and head trainer at Zoospensfull. Peter has spent many years as an animal trainer, influencer, educator and consultant and brings his expertise to this wide-ranging conversation. We talk about the most important things to consider in a training program, cooperative care and the future of positive reinforcement training. We also discuss dealing...

In this episode, we sit down with Ezekiel Gading, a master's student and animal welfare researcher. We talk about Ezekiel's fascinating research on Orangutans, building resilience in the animals you work with and how animals are perceiving their environment. Resources we covered:  https://www.some.ox.ac.uk/our-people/professor-marian-dawkins-cbe-frs/   https://www.neuroscience.cam.ac.uk/directory/...

In this episode, I am joined by Tim Husband, a former zoo director with over 40 years in the animal care industry. Tim brings the perspective of having worked at all levels of animal care facilities to this wide-ranging conversation. Tim currently owns a consulting company ZooWorks, where he and his team perform audits of animal care facilities to determine strategic goals for the facility as it r...

In this episode, I sit down with Alice Vassalo, Director of the Keeper Educational Exchange Programme and host of Asshole Animals With Alice. We chat about the importance of collaboration on animal welfare and learning as well as some of the animals that we still loved working with despite them being jerks.  Resources:  https://www.keeperexchange.org/about-us-2 https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcas...

In this episode, Nick Naitove & Emily Cain-Bernhart of WildThink are back! We chat about the enrichment vending machine, animal cognition, our sensory biases and the future of animal welfare with things like AI. Check it out!  Resources:  https://www.wildthink.org/   https://czaw.org/   https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/616914/an-immense-world-by-ed-yong/9781039003903

In this episode, I sit down with Grant Kother, Senior Consultant at Zoospensfull. Grant brings his expertise in leading animal care teams, enrichment and training as well as extensive experience as an animal educator. Please enjoy this wide-ranging conversation!  Resources  Sabrina Brando 24/7 care  https://animalconcepts.mykajabi.com/247approachtopromotingoptimalwelfareforcaptivewildanimals   htt...

In this episode, we chat with Jade Fountain, owner of Animal Behaviour Matters. Animal behaviour matters is a behaviour consultancy that works with people and animals worldwide to teach the fundamentals of applied behavioural science and behaviour change via positive reinforcement training. In this conversation, we go over what makes a great animal trainer, decision-making in behavioural husbandry...

In this episode I am joined by Dr Valli Fraser-Celin, an expert on human- canine relationships and positive reinforcement training advocate. In this wide ranging conversation we talk about Valli's doctoral research on human-canine conflict and relationships in Africa, how this informed her advocacy around R+ in canines and some common myths around dog behaviour. Resources:  https://www.instagram.c...

In this episode, we sit down with Kristina Bartley, Founder and President of the American Association of Laboratory Animal Enrichment. We chat about the unique challenges with the enrichment and welfare of lab animals as well as some of the parallels between the research field and the zoo field.  Some resources we talked about:  https://www.aalae.org/about-us/ https://www.aalae.org/enrichment-data...

In this episode we sit down with Bale Pigors to talk about Free to be Wild Sanctuary, the primate sanctuary she started in Zimbabwe. We talk about the steps involved in rehabilitating an animal for release as well as the unique enrichment and animal welfare challenges that come with rehabilitation.  https://freetobewildsanctuary.org/ https://www.instagram.com/freetobewildsanctuary/

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Isabella Clegg, Director of Animal Welfare Expertise. We discuss a wide range of topics relating to animal welfare and enrichment including bridging the gap between research and practical application of animal welfare concepts, common challenges, the importance of team work, and much more!  Resources discussed:  https://www.animalwelfareexpertise.com/ https://www.a...

In this episode, we chat about measuring the demeanour of the animals you work with and how it can be used to improve animal welfare. Resources/ Further reading:  Andreasen, S. N., Wemelsfelder, F., Sandøe, P., & Forkman, B. (2013). The correlation of Qualitative Behavior Assessments with Welfare Quality® protocol outcomes in on-farm welfare assessment of dairy cattle. Applied Animal Behaviour Sci...

In this episode, we sit down with Jay Pratte, President of the Bear Care Group and Director of the Miller Park Zoo. In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk about the origins of the Bear Care Group, AZA's Well-being shift and the future of animal welfare science. Resources we discussed:  https://www.bearcaregroup.org/   Maher, Chloe J., Angela Gibson, Laura M. Dixon, and Heather Bacon. 2021. "De...

Our third and final part in the "How to become a zookeeper" series. In. this episode we sit down with Marc Brandson, curator, hiring manager and safety guru to chat about networking, resumes, interview tactics and insider tips for you to become a zookeeper!  Links we talked about:  https://www.aza.org/accred-materials https://caza.ca/policies-backgrounders/   https://ocean.org   https://worksitesa...

In this episode, we talk about AZA's new document "A Strategic Framework for the Wellbeing of Animals". We go over the position statement on the shift to wellbeing, the 5 priorities in the document as well as what this shift means for you in the day-to-day husbandry of animals.  Here is a link to the framework: https://assets.speakcdn.com/assets/2332/aza_animal-welfare-strategy.pdf  

Part 2 of our interviews with hiring managers! We are joined by Denise Soufflant to chat about how to become a zookeeper! 

In this episode, I am joined by Kelsey Worth, hiring manager, animal trainer and a keeper who has worked all over the world. We take you through the journey of becoming a zookeeper, from networking, resume dos and don'ts interview tips and tricks and finally, how to get a full-time job when you get your foot in the door! Check it out and have your hiring questions answered! 

In this episode, we are joined by Demi Booth, an Animal Welfare Specialist. We chat about the ins and outs of what it's like to run an animal welfare/ behavioural husbandry program at a large institution as well as some of the fascinating work Demi has been a part of.  Check out Demi's work at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/demibooth/ .  Links to resources we talked about  https://www.eaza.net/acade...

In this episode, we sit down with Sarah Bonser-Blake, Animal Welfare Feild Manager at Wild Welfare. We talk about animal welfare assessments, some of the great work Wild Welfare is doing and the free Wild About Welfare: Digital Education Programme and much more!  Check out Wild Welfare at:  https://wildwelfare.org   https://wildwelfare.org/resources-elearn-programme/   https://www.facebook.com/Wil...

In this episode, we are joined by Amanda Gobel of Enriching Equines to talk about all things horse welfare and enrichment. Check out Enriching Equines at: https://enrichingequines.com   https://www.facebook.com/enrichingequines/   https://www.instagram.com/enrichingequines/  

Good employee welfare = Good animal welfare! In this episode, we go over some useful tips and tricks to avoid burnout and learn to soar in the animal care industry. Check out my article on this topic as well: https://wildenrichment.com/articles/learn-to-soar-dealing-with-burnout-in-the-animal-care-industry/  

Animal welfare is a continuously evolving science and proactively keeping on top of the welfare needs of every animal in a collection is a tremendous undertaking, but looking critically at the people and processes around you as well as your own skillset is a great place to start, find out more on today's podcast!    Link to full article: https://wildenrichment.com/articles/are-you-leaving-welfare-...

In this short episode, I talk about my thoughts on reptile enrichment and where I think everyone should start when they are looking to make a reptile's life more enriching and increase their welfare.