Captive animal care

The past two weeks we have been learning about the in and outs of Caring for animals in captivity.
We learnt reasons as to why we might want to have animals in captivity.

• they have been injured
• they are endangered and need protection.
• they have been abandoned
• they are being used in a breading program
• there is little information about the animal and it needs to be studied.

we learnt how an animals social behavior affects how you handle it in captivity.

• very social animals will be put with other animals preferably of its own kind.
• young animals need a nursing animal such as a sheep who are docile.
• nervous animals need lots of peace and quiet and a corner for them to retreat into.
  
• aggressive animals need an escape route for the keepers...

We learnt about feeding habit, sleeping patterns and nocturnal habits. That we must never go into the cage of an animal that we are not familiar with. That there is only one handler per animal. That you must never go into a cage without someone knowing that you are there, especially with thing like lions, here you shouldn't go in alone either.

It is important to report on your feeding sessions. this means that you must after feeding go to your supervisor and tell him/her how it went

• did the animal eat?
• how much did they eat?
• how does their poop look?
• did they like the food?