Helpful Hippo Behaviors

Wicket’s keepers are currently working on training her to demonstrate numerous behaviors that Kasai and Zambezi currently illustrate. These behaviors are instilled into our hippos to help manage their care and welfare.

• Stationing is when the hippo faces the keepers and holds their chin up on the top rail of the exhibit. This allows the keepers to get a good look at her skin and medicate some dry/cracked spots if necessary using a spray bottle.

• Target training is where the keepers place a tennis ball on the end of a pole and have the animal touch it with their nose when they hold it out. This is helpful when they are working with more than one animal in the stall at the same time; one can be "led" away from the other so training is less confusing for them.

• The open mouth command is important, so keepers can look inside the hippo’s mouth, check for cracks in their teeth, check for sores, and alleviate tusk problems in case they need to address them. We also brush the hippo’s teeth daily and get any debris out from between their teeth. Oral care is important in hippos so opening their mouth for keepers to perform daily hygiene is a necessity.

•  A to B training is a good way to see how the hippos are moving. We can ask them to come to "point A" (where the keeper is), when they do we reward them, and then we ask them to go to a designated "point B" (across the yard or pool) and back again.

Training Wicket

When it comes to teaching and maintaining desirable behaviors with animals, a positive trusting relationship is the first ingredient. Currently, we are working on building a trusting relationship with Wicket, our new hippo from the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. She is shy, but does respond to special treats like cantaloupe, popcorn, and bread. Unlike Zambezi and Kasai, Wicket backs away from touch and has been slow to respond to us, her new keepers. While at the Brookfield Zoo she was trained to open her mouth on command, she has continued to demonstrate this behavior, which is a good start. She does allow keepers that she’s "comfortable with", to scratch her tongue and brush her teeth. As with most trained animals, practice makes perfect, so we will continue to practice this behavior with her while we work on building a trusting relationship.

Our overall training goal with Wicket is to instill the same behaviors Kasai and Zambezi illustrate including: stationing, target training, refining the open mouth behavior to allow for proper oral care, and doing some A to B work with her as well. We will post a short blog defining what each behavior consists of and why we train the specific behaviors later this week.

Wicket is beginning to adjust to her new pool and stall. Along with, Zambezi and Kasai, they have all been curious about one another with interaction through the bars several times a day. This interaction is all part of the introduction phase but the stressful part is still to come. Placing a new animal in an already established group will be challenging and there will be an adjustment period.

We have our work cut out for us, but with time and patience we anticipate Wicket to be a happy hippo here at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.