I’ve been a bit swamped but will be back with more content soon. In the meantime, enjoy–that is my face in the video! LOL

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No matter what you think about Pedigree, this slow motion advertisement is very cool.

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Early in my career I was part of the enrichment for Corky and Orky, the killer whales once housed at Marineland in California.

In fact, I considered myself enrichment for a wide variety of animals housed there–including a few walruses, sea lions, dolphins–but somehow not for Bubbles the pilot whale.

Go figure.

They were always observing me as I did them and often would vocalize when I would appear to get my attention or to get me to take some time to play or commune.

Like many people, these captive animals impacted my life but the difference was that I was already on the road to earning my animal professional status.

Now, I’ve still be listening and shaking my head over some of the commentaries that have arisen over the Tilikum orca incident.

It has sparked a lot of attention to other related topics.

I happened to catch Joy Behar’s focus on animal attacks last night which sounded more like a promo for the Fatal Attraction trilogy scheduled to air shortly.

Now I happen to like Joy Behar’s matter-of-fact view of life, and her humor, but I wish she could have benefited from a better expert since the guy on the show irresponsibly referred to captive chimps as “domesticated chimps.”

There is no such thing as a domesticated chimp.

Yes, there are chimps who have been born in captivity but true domestication alters an animal and usually involves selective breeding. Plus true domestication occurs over thousands of years and generations upon generations.

I don’t know how many people caught the show but I thought I’d talk about a few things that came up in it and from the discussions I have been sharing with other animal professionals.

Just because someone has a voice does not mean they are right.
St James & LaDonna Davis appeared as guests on the show.

If you have not seen St James, he was terribly disfigured when he was attacked by the chimps at the facility housing Moe the chimp (who had previous lived in the Davis home).

For some reason, LaDonna seemed to think her opinion about chimpanzees was correct–and it is not.

She had the idea that any animal, if reared right, will turn out into a cooperative being without a tendency to violence or natural instincts.

Her opinion could not be further from the truth and is utter nonsense.

At one time you could purchase a chimpanzee without a lot of experience or jumping through hoops for permits, etc.

Times have changed and fortunately it is much harder for a private party to obtain a wild animal than back when society was more innocent–and laws were more lax.

But her insistence that she knew more than the animal expert on the show because she owned a chimp reflects a trend I see more and more.

People think their opinions hold weight.

Not for me it doesn’t.

They are opinions and opinions only.

Why should I listen to someone who bought a chimpanzee, dressed it up like a kid, and then ignored the animal’s wild nature?

But she is not alone in thinking her opinion matters and that she is right when it comes to the topic of animals.

Ever hear, “I’ve been training dogs all my life” from someone who has a dog?

Have you ever asked how many animals that means?

For the average person, it does not mean they have trained different breeds or temperaments professional but rather a few dogs they have personally owned.

Why should I listen to them when it comes to dog training?

You shouldn’t either.

Today people want to spout their opinions and be heard but it doesn’t mean that they are right.

Chimpanzees are among some of the most dangerous wild animals in captivity based on their strength and temperament but for some reason people want to believe that they are innocuous.

Go ahead and try to deny it but take a good long, hard look at St James and at Charla Nash (the woman who was attacked by Travis the chimp who is now a dead chimp.

If they had any idea of what a male chimpanzee was like it would be no surprise.

However, there are a lot of people who think a 12,000 predator (like the killer whale Tilikum) should simply be a benevolent and intelligent being.

Intelligence does not mean they are like Homo sapiens.
For some reason, people want to believe that intelligent animals are like human beings–or that they like human beings.

Each creature on earth has his or her own role within the scheme of nature.

They vary in temperament, sociability, and in how they might react in a given situation.

It does not mean that they love you or like you in the same way you like them.

It is their nature to be wild and to be what they evolved to be in the natural world.

Unlike domesticated animals, they are independent beings that could take or leave humans–and often take advantage when the opportunity arises.

Should a captive wild animal be euthanized if it attacks?
I can’t believe someone actually came up with that stupid question.

Why? For being a wild animal? For being a predator? For being so big that they squish someone?

People get into trouble with wild animals all the time.

In captivity it is an occupational hazard if a trainer gets munched or killed by one of his or her charges.

But then there are also those people who “want to be one” with the animal and get killed or maimed after tormenting an animal or after climbing into the animal’s enclosure.

Usually nobody faults the animal.

I’ve seen a lot of human error and equipment failure contribute to terminal situations.

Management can be really stupid sometimes, too.

In the wild, animals that attack and kill humans intentionally are usually terminated because they tend to pose a danger to others.

On a day-to-day basis, captive animals are usually privately owned and confined–and so don’t pose a big threat.

If you take a look at how many wild animals there are in captivity and how many interactions they have with humans, the really bad incidents are not as many as you think.

But don’t think those of us who work with them don’t understand that they might kill us.

And don’t think incidents don’t happen.

They are not as rare as you might hope but free wild animal incidents are not as rare as you think either–you just don’t hear about them.

Okay, so I am ranting again…the answer to the euthanasia question?

Cetaceans are conscious breathers and it is dangerous to even use anesthesia with them.

They are also very valuable animals and protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and there are laws for captive marine mammal management via the USDA so euthanasia can be a complicated matter.

When experts say stupid things.
Okay, we all sometimes say things that are stupid (or that are taken out of context) but two guys pissed me off when they chimed in about Tilikum.

Play?
Since I have not seen the footage I can’t say for sure but I don’t think that Tilikum was “playing” as one expert spouted.

First, it doesn’t ring true especially from the descriptions I’ve heard.

Plus, the only times I’ve seen whales attempt to grab their trainers–it was not in play.

Also normal play behavior would be in the regular repertoire, while when aggression incidents occur, they tend to stand out.

Now in an animal’s normal behavior repertoire (aka behavior topography) they will give advanced signals as to their state of being.

I’d be interested in the underwater footage and knowing if, in fact, there was a disturbance within the orcas in close proximity as I’ve heard.

So I doubt the orca incident was play and it sounds like aggressive orca behavior–which is not malicious but simply what they do as a predator.

Trainer’s Fault?
This suggestion made me really mad.

Human error happens but to make that statement on national television without consideration of the trainer’s family or an investigation into the incident was flat irresponsible.

Plus, some facilities make it a practice of passing the blame–when ultimately it is management and the owners of the animals who are responsible.

When we worked on the initial Resources for Crisis Management in Zoos & Other Animal Care Facilities I found it odd that many marine animal facilities did not want to chime in.

I am still wondering why normal protocol does not include an air tank or contingency plans using blasts of noise or the use of protected contact.

Okay, there is more to say but I am still waiting for more comments on the poll.

I’d be interested in your views, so comment below and please take a moment to participate in the captive orca poll.

Other Posts You May Enjoy

• Chimp Attack: The Travis Travesty
• Charla Nash Survives Travis the Chimp
• Training Talk: When Things Go Wrong
• Python Attacks Toddler: Inherent Dangers of Unsupervised Children & Pets
• Animal Attack Week Concludes
• More Animal Attacks & Common Sense

Mary is a regular commenter here on the Ark Animals blog. Here you can see her initial attempts at training the horse’s head movement away from her.

I am hoping she will leave us a comment as to her criteria or if she is accepting any movement and when, if ever, she will set a particular criteria to shape that as a standard.

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Funny, I was asked a similar question years ago.

The person actually asked me, “What would you be doing if you could do anything you’d like?”

I was thunderstruck and answered, “I’m doing it.”

The reason I was shocked was because that person had no connection with who I was or what my passion in life was.

I thought it was clear and so was stunned that he didn’t understand my motivation in life.

Fast forward to today and I am working on putting things in place so I can expand my lifelong goal.

Dr Oz recently wrote an excellent commentary on the Tilikum orca incident.

His commentary resonated with me because I’ve spent my life developing deep relationships with animals, not only studying about them, but also by directly observing their behavior, moods, habits, communication and by interacting with them in intimate relationships.

1979

I’ve connected with them to see who they are and gleaned insights to their unique personalities.

I’ve mentioned that an early tag line of my business was “Training animals through trust, respect, and understanding.”

Now when it comes to animals, Dr Oz thinks those connections and understanding is a gift. He said,

Many of us love animals, only some of us can really connect with them.

But people want to connect with animals and working animal professionals strive to develop that deep understanding so we can help others understand them the way we do.

My early dreams of an animal career were motivated by some industry greats–many of whom I worked for or studied under.

Like Dr Oz, I used to watch Jacques Cousteau’s Undersea World. So when Mehmet Oz shared his story it reminded me of why I began training.

This tale triggered that memory.

Local natives have harvested these fish for thousands of years but never seen them in their natural environment because the water is too opaque. He caught some fish and put them in a huge glass aquarium for the villagers to see and swim with their prey. Their fascination was profound. Enlightenment occurred. Understanding ensued. For the first time, the natives had the ability to finally see with clarity what had been so close, yet so hidden from them throughout their lives. These epiphanies are the building blocks of our lives.

Today, affluence and education lead people to take stands on issues they have the luxury to ponder.

However, across the world people hunt and kill animals that others strive to protect or to be advocates for.

For instance, there are those who want captive animals released from captivity who have no knowledge of those who know those animals as a commodity simply because they can sometimes earn more than a year’s salary by trapping or killing them.

Their perspective simply sees those animals as a way to support their family.

Of course it is a little more complicated than that–but you get the idea.

Then there are the groups that raise the hackles of wild animal trainers and facilities housing captive wildlife.

They make emotional pleas and paint a picture that isn’t exactly true for everyone in the animal industry and they make money doing it.

So the upside is that they do catalyze change and awareness. But many of their supporters never ask, How much of that money really gets into the work of helping animals?

The reality is that lots goes to making more money by purchasing advertisements or sending you those fat envelopes soliciting funds.

Some of those funds pay the salaries of administration.

Now funds might get into a community to help a few animals or perhaps a specific cause but it is not as much as people assume.

Because they are sanctioned non-profit corporations, people get it in their heads that they are better than other corporations.

Ain’t necessarily so.

However, my point is in alignment with Dr Oz:

This world is too precious not to take an active role in understanding its other tenants.

Wild animals do command respect and reverence.

That is why when people call me an animal lover, I cringe.

I am an animal professional.

Yes, I do love animals but I don’t see them as anything other than the great beings they are.

Most people miss that. The wear these colored glasses that distorts the view.

Or perhaps it is the influence of television shows where animals connect with people in amazing ways–animated or not.

People forget that the movie industry’s epic films (showing human and animal relationships) are simply animal actors and human actors conveying a fictionalized story from the imagination of a writer.

The public wants to think humans and animals can live in a peaceable kingdom-even while we continue to pollute the world and drive those creatures into smaller territories–getting mad when they trespass into our terrain.

As he astutely noted, many animal professionals do devote our lives to furthering the boundaries of relationships humans can have with the animals in their charge.

My goal went from being a marine naturalist to being a trainer because the light bulb went off in my head one day.

“Wow, I can teach people that these animals are individuals and through close encounters of the ‘wild kind’ can motivate them to care.

Then that care can be translated into caring about the species, and then about the environment.”

My goal was to do outreach to connect people with animals so they see them from a new perspective, a perspective that only someone with intimate knowledge of animals can share.

Will I be able to do this in other countries and cultures?

I’ve done a lot of different things through my career but still think more needs to be done.

Hopefully, my work will bring understanding, appreciation, and enlightenment to others.

Perhaps I’ll be the one to captivate and motivate new animals professionals to take this mission forward.

That is why I started training animals and why I still love it.

If you are seeking an animal career, what impact do you desire?

What do you want your legacy to be?

What would your ideal day look like?

Other Posts You May Enjoy

• Animal Careers: Same Mistakes Different Day
• Animal Career Dreams?
• Animal Career Chat: Teaching Through Story
• Animal Career Chat: The Darkside
• Animal Careers & Occupational Hazards
• Animal Careers & Free Advice

It has been a long time since we had a decent winter around here and the lake level will be high and it won’t be long before the trout start making their way up Grout Creek in an effort to spawn.

You probably heard about Dawn Brancheau, the killer whale trainer who was killed by Tilikum the Sea World orca.

It is such a tragedy and I hate to say it but that type of accident is simply an occupational hazard of a wild animal career.

If you missed my commentaries on the killer whale incident, I have posted them both on my media website and at http://www.arkanimals.com.

The links to the direct articles are listed below along with the tribute video shown on the day the killer whale shows resumed.

This incident is causing a lot of emotional debate over the issue of animals in captivity. The good thing is that everyone is concerned for the animal but the bad thing is that most people have no idea about the complexities involved with some of the suggestions being made.

I have been pondering this issues and should have an extensive commentary about it sometime this month and have posted a poll for you to vote to make your voice heard.

My hope is that we can all learn from this and make improvements in protocols and not forget what happened to the last captive killer whale (Keiko) that was released to the wild with dismal results.

Unless you understand the issues surrounding such matters it seems like a good idea but it isn’t always the reality of the situation.

The public demands around the release of Keiko were a death sentence that saddened me greatly.

Anyway, I hope to be able to share some of my insights and the complexities of these issues but it is going to take a while to write!

Also, the Maule, Chile earthquake should remind you to implement those tips and strategies I outlined in the animal disaster guide and I was glad that I wrote about Haiti last month.

It is likely that The Animal Relief Coalition will expand their efforts. If you missed that newsletter, it is online in the archives (see links below) and the Animal Relief Agencies that are involved are listed here:

==>>http://animalsindisasters.typepad.com/wspa/arch-members.html

Thanks again for your support and I hope you find the recent changes to you liking.

Happy Tails to You & Yours,
Diana L Guerrero
===============================================
2. Discussion for the Month
===============================================
Thanks to those who sent in their entries to the contest to win their dogs a dinner.

It was a tough choice to pick only three but the winners are:

Ali Golden Spleen and her dachshund, Sadie
Ali celebrates with Sadie but also does so by fostering senior dogs. She runs the blog at http://www.muttville.org and organize their adoption events.

Su Humphrey & her yellow labs, Valentino & Princess
Su rescued two yellow labs, Valentino (who is blind) and Princess when the two dogs were casualties of the foreclosure crisis. She says, “It is a constant love fest here at my house.”

Betty Petrich
Betty’s dog Lucky (a maltese) sadly crossed the Rainbow Bridge not too long ago. She celebrated him every day of his life and today honors his memory through monthly donations to the SPCA & recently organized a fundraiser whose proceeds went to a local dog rescue.
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3. Article Round Up
===============================================
Below are the articles I have written since the last newsletter. Just click in to visit the articles of your choice and feel free to use the “tell a friend” link at the end of each post to email your friend the article link or to bookmark your favorite posts.

Most of you have said you don’t want daily notifications about the new content on the web which is why I include the list here but my new service will send you a list twice a month now to keep you on top of things.

If you want immediate notification, I’d suggest visiting http://www.ArkAnimals.Com so you can sign up for the RSS feed. Directions are on the website and you won’t miss a thing!

We are currently overhauling all my websites and you’ll be seeing some more changes.

February 2010
Captive Orcas: Take the Poll

Dawn Brancheau Killer Whale Trainer Tribute Video

Animal Disasters This Week

Animal Careers & Occupational Hazards

Animal Careers: Same Mistakes Different Day

Win Your Dogs Dinner!

Animal Training is Like Piano Playing

Dog Training Gone Bad?

Conservation Marketing for Valentine’s Day

Animal Training Sense or Senseless

Animal Training Career Risks: Emotional Attachment

Animal Career Dreams?

What is Pet Parenting?

Ark Animal Tracks February

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4. Schedule of Upcoming Events & Appearances
===============================================
My calendar is now live online at http://www.arkanimals.com/calendar/

Thanks for your continued support and suggestions
=============================================
=============================================
Have a great month and stay tuned!
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Other Posts You May Enjoy

• Ark Animal Tracks December
• Ark Animal Tracks October 2009
• Ark Animal Tracks July 2009
• Ark Animal Tracks May 2009
• Ark Animal Tracks April 2009
• Ark Animal Tracks February/March 2009

The recent killer whale incident has created a lot of debate over the ethical issue of wild animals in captivity. I’d like to know where you stand on this issue.

Please take the poll below and tell a friend. I’ll be posting on this issue later in the month.

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Here in the moutains, I am gazing out at fast falling snow with a roaring fire behind me but many areas of the nation have lost power and the ability to function because of a failing infrastructure to handle the unexpected snow loads.

It is too early to know much about the situation. People often spout a lot of bravado when it comes to disasters because they were narrowly missed or have experienced minor incidents.

In Southern California the mudslides and other dangers have consistently had people evacuated but people get complacent and habituated to false ideas of safety when multiple evacuations happen and nothing disastrous does.

It just takes once for something to happen and for people and animals to lose their lives.

When people refuse to evacuate it puts additional demands on rescue personnel because those who stay are so naive or too selfish to not evacuate.

What they forget it that it puts rescue personnel in danger while they attempt to rescue or move those at risk and pulls their valuable services away from other tasks–simply because some people believe they were going to be the exception.

This takes me back to my days of work in animal disaster preparedness and I, once again, urge you to take actions to prepare for the unexpected.

I’ve been distributing an ebook version of some of my work that discusses what actions to take and how to prepare to subscribers on this website. Take a minute to sign up to get the download information. You can grab Animal Disaster Preparedness for Pet Owners & Pet Professionals here.

Sea World’s Tilikum & the Dawn Brancheau Tragedy
I wrote a couple of posts related to Tilikum the orca (aka killer whale) and the death of Dawn Brancheau on my media and journalist blog but have been listening to people discuss this issue all around town and online.

Today people tend to throw out their opinions and get pretty emotional over issues for which they really have no knowledge and that causes a lot of problems.

Be Free? Have you forgotten Keiko?
In this situation, a lot of people suddenly want to “set Tilikum free” or to jump on the “all captive wildlife should be free.”

This is an ethical and property debate that I’ve seen before and will see again and again.

Most of us care about the well being of all creatures but when public pressure comes to a boil it isn’t always what is best for the animal.

Take Keiko the killer whale featured in the movie, Free Willy.

The whole emotional wave made me cringe and the public got what they wanted, and well, Keiko is dead and died within a short time of release.

This really made me sad because I knew the release was a death sentence but nobody wanted to hear that.

People didn’t question what was the best for the animal, who was funding the project, and very little news of his life continued after his release.

His death was tragic. What good did it do in the long run?

Tell me, seriously, I want to know what that death sentence for that killer whale accomplished.

The public bought into an idea that had nothing to do with reality. I wrote about this killer whale’s release back into the wild and this is a small excerpt of my commentary;

Anyone truly involved with animal rehabilitation could explain that habituated animals do not make good candidates for release back into the wild…

Just because you are biologically related and have heritage that links you back to a specific culture does not mean that you will integrate back into that environment after you have lived another way.

It is more complicated than that but I got my certification in captive breeding and conservation of endangered species and know a little bit about how serious rehabilitation works.

Are you buying into the myth or reality?
The other thing I want to bring up is this misconception about who and what animals are.

I hate the edu-trainment trend because it does not give people a reasonable base of information to operate from.

In the media you have television personalities that show invasive behavior inside animal habitats and the man-handling of wildlife.

It makes me cringe and has done so since the first wave hit in the late 1990s on the popular animal network, Animal Planet.

Today, they are not the only channel spreading this crap.

Nat Geo, once a respected source of info, has gone pop culture.

They have a personality in the pet realm who is using archaic and harsh techniques that people adopt and think are standard when they are not.

These types of examples perpetuate bad illustrations of how to interact with animals.

People want a connection to nature and animals but the examples they are given are misrepresented AND, even worse, they try and imitate what they see.

Sorry to say that those early Disney television shows and Sea World interactive shows contribute to that problem.

As an animal professional, I am saddened but not shocked by the fact that an orca trainer was killed.

In fact, I am more shocked that so few deaths have occurred based on the high number of interactions that trainers have with these very large predators.

So few incidents are probably more indicative of the fact that the trainers are not in the water with them all the time.

Humans and whales live in two different environments and so the risk is mitigated some what.

People forget that orcas are predators.

That means they kill things to eat them.

Sometimes they use strategy to kill them.

Once in a while they kill things and leave them to rot.

It doesn’t matter if you like them, love them, have worked with them for years.

They are ultimately predators–and very large, strong, potential lethal ones at that.

Now, every year countless people climb into zoo exhibits or get maimed or munched by the wildlife they wanted to get close to for a personal close encounter.

Are they lunatics, simply stupid, or do they really have such a disconnect from the wild creatures they see that they think these wild creatures are benevolent?

I think it is a mix of all of the above.

Then there those who want to believe all those crap emails that get circulated.

How about the polar bear and the dogs. Did anyone notice the fear tucked tail of the one dog “embraced” by the bear?

Guess what, you don’t see the ones that got eaten.

And people only see what they want to see instead of looking closer.

There are a bunch of them and people want to believe in the peaceable kingdom.

I’ve got news, we don’t live in it.

Bottom line is that there are predators and prey.

These creatures do what they do because they are animals and so operate as animals. They don’t care what humans want to think and don’t operate according to human rules.

That applies even if they are trained.

They aren’t tame, they are trained.

There is a difference.

From the Comments
Kat wrote in a great comment and rather than address it there, I thought it should be featured in a post:

I feel like the only non-industry person taking the orca’s side (although I greatly sympathize with the trainer and her family). But…aren’t these water park “entertainment” animals overworked? I would imagine they are intelligent enough to experience mental stress, just like an overworked human. Is my thinking out of line here?

Thanks Kat.

Your human viewpoint is just that, human. I don’t believe you, like most people, have personal experience with wild animals and so have formed your opinions in a variety of ways that are not always an accurate assessment.

Also, I don’t think you are alone in being on Tilikum’s side but there are a group of irresponsible people in the media spouting their opinions without a lot of research or facts–and they tend to be the most vocal.

As for overworked, I’d have to disagree and let me give you a bit of background as to why.

Back when I started in the industry, the rule was that animals had to be left “as natural as possible.”

This pissed me off coming from the movie and television training of wild animals.

The animals I knew loved to work and had a more complex and interesting life than any captive held zoo animal.

Oceanariums were still pretty new but were working on progressive animal training methods that have now evolved into the systems you see around the globe today.

However, at that time I was always getting yelled out or was considered a rebel (big surprise there) because I believed an animal’s life was enriched by training and that stress was reduced through that cooperative behavior.

In captive environments today, most aquatic show animals only work when they voluntarily comply.

Also, because there are a number of animals within any collection, they are rotated through the queue.

If anything, the real task of animal trainers is to keep their charges interested and mentally stimulated to prevent aberrant behaviors.

That said, there are number of factors that come into play when you see incidents.

Marine mammals are complex creatures that also have normal urges and no mental (or moral) restraints about acting on them.

These can include aggressive urges, sexual urges, competitive urges, etc.

Sometimes interspecific conflicts can catalyze undesired behavior.

Frustration can escalate into aggression and even mistakes by the trainer might catalyze an incident.

Also, despite what some trainers want to believe, animals do develop preferences for certain trainers and even jealousy can come into play and create situations.

Or, as was the case in the marine mammal incident I experienced while in the water, they see you as a tool to manipulate the behavior of the other trainer to get what they want.

Marine mammals understand the training nuances and so you have to be on the top of your game to keep things flowing and safe.

They will manipulate when they can.

So, I hope that gives you a better idea of some of the issues faced with captive whales.

And no, I don’t think they are overworked.

If anything, I think captive management is constantly striving to keep them healthy, not only physically but also mentally.

Any animal, wild or domestic, is better behaved and better balanced when tired and when kept mentally enriched.

So, rather than over being overworked, it is the lack of activity, lack of social interactions, and the lack of complex training programs could result in animal behavior problems.

Okay, that is it for today.

Here are some other links of interest:

• Wall Street Journal
• Tilikum Orca Incident Unanswered Questions
• Tilikum Killer Whale Incident

If you did not catch the Sea World press conference, I’ve attached it below.

Be forewarned, Sea World has never been forthcoming and has always been a tight lipped and closed community–even to others in the industry.

Other Posts You May Enjoy

• Animal Careers & Occupational Hazards
• Dawn Brancheau Killer Whale Trainer Tribute (Video)
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• Southern California Fires
• Pet Hurricane Victims & Pet Rescue Books