How to Train A Lion or Tiger - .
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Chapter 1 — Updated Sep 21, 2010 — 10,088 characters
Ferocious, their eyes burning in the night and teeth as sharp as razorblades, lions and tigers seem like they can only be trained using brute force and aggression; however this widely accepted fact is, for the most part, wrong. As a professional wild animal handler for the past 6 years, I have come to learn that even though these powerful beasts have an aggressive side that can tear you limb from limb, they also have a softer, gentler, more affectionate side that is comparable to that of a domestic cat. I have raised both lions and tigers from infancy to adulthood, and with this have been privileged to be able to watch their developmental strides, falls, and accomplishments. I have also been able to form a close maternal bond with many a lion and tiger, bonds which I would not trade for anything in the world. With these bonds that I have with my lions and tigers, I have been able to sculpt and modify certain acceptable and unacceptable behaviors that the cats display. I do not believe in the use of whips, chains (except as a lead; chains are strong and the cats cannot chew through them), guns, or chairs, rather I believe in and use the love that I have for my cats, the trust that the cats have in me, and positive reinforcement in the form of tactile affection, a play toy, or food.
As complicated as it may seem, training any animal to do a certain task is relatively easy. A lot of it has to do with repetition and positive reinforcement. As I will discuss later, there are certain steps that need to be followed to achieve the goal of the animal complying to your request. After doing many hours of research and consulting with numerous wild animal trainers and animal behaviorists, I decided that the best way to train my cats was by rewarding the behaviors that I want, and ignoring the behaviors that I didn't want. Eager to please, the animals picked up on my reactions toward their behavior quickly, and wound up learning which behaviors are appropriate and inappropriate rather quickly.
By now, you are probably curious about how to train such a ferocious beast. However, I must state that you should NEVER approach any wild animal, and that you shouldn't try any of what I say in this essay at home. Remember, I am a trained professional that has been working with dangerous animals for the past 6 years. With that said, let me take you into the cage of the beast...
The first step in training a lion or a tiger comes before the cats' eyes and ears even open. Since the dams of my cats were born and raised in captivity, they do not have the maternal instinct and the knowledge needed to properly raise a litter of cubs. When the mother lion or tiger gives birth to the litter, she ignores them immediately because she doesn't know what to do with them. The mother cat will allow me to retrieve her cubs from her cage and take them back to my house. When they are at my house, I clean them off, tie their umbilical cord, and give them their first bottle, which is full of synthetic colostrum. I keep them in a cage that is lined with lightly used clothes that contain my scent. As previously mentioned, lions and tigers are born blind and deaf, and rely on their sense of smell and touch to make sense of the world around them. As the cats sleep with my scent, and associate my scent with their bottle, they start to learn that I am not a threat to them, but rather something that they associate with comfort and maternal care.
When their eyes and ears open at about two weeks of age, the cats start to develop personalities and become more adventurous. Of course, they are extremely happy to make sense of the organism that they have called "mother" all of this time, and they can not get enough of me. I will take them out of their pen and sit on the ground with them, and talk in a calm and soothing voice that doesn't hurt their sensitive ears. I also will lay down on my stomach so I can be at their eye level; this makes me less of a threat for them. They gladly come over and rub their face on mine and, in the case of tigers, chuff, which sounds like an "oof-oof-oof"; chuffing is a sign of affection. Of course, they will still scream for me to give them attention, to feed them, to stimulate them to go to the bathroom, and so on. Like a responsible mother, I tend to their every need round-the-clock. This further associates me with positive interactions rather than negative ones.
Within a few weeks, the cat's senses are honed, and instinct starts to show itself. The cats start stalking me, and pouncing out of nowhere, claws fully extended, teeth bared. Of course, this is only out of play, and wild cats perform the same behaviors with their mothers. And, just like their mothers, I won't tolerate it. When I feel a claw dig into my flesh, I immediately force the cat to retract it, and yell "NO HOOKS!". Likewise, when I feel the cat biting me, I bite it's ear just like a wild lion or tiger mother would; the ear is the most sensitive part of a lion or tiger, and when bit it HURTS. I believe that biting the ear of a large cat is the only proper way to teach the cat not to bite, because it shows him just how painful it is to be bitten. Now, of course the cat will be roaring mad at me, and whip around and usually snarl at me, but with a few calming words and a few gentle touches (and a couple of chuffs if it is a tiger), our loving relationship returns to normal. With a few repetitions of the dire consequences that follow biting and scratching, the average feline will cease in it's behavior.
As the cat gets older, I start teaching it the benefits of positive reinforcement. As previously mentioned, I only reward behaviors that I deem acceptable and ignore behaviors that I deem unacceptable (except for the case of biting and scratching when the cubs are young). This concept is aided by the use of a bridge, which is something that tells the animal that they are doing something right. This bridge can come in the form of a clicker, a whistle, or in the form of a spoken word such as "GOOD!". I start training the animal by using my bridge (I prefer to use clickers) and immediately providing the animal with a primary reinforcement, which is usually food. As with most animals, food seems to work the best when directly rewarding an animal. With repeated exposure to the clicker and the reinforcement that comes along with it, the cat starts to associate the bridge with being rewarded. This step is crucial to the training process because without a consistent bridge, the animal will not know which behaviors are desired and which behaviors are undesired.
Once the lion or tiger is used to the bridge, I start asking him or her to do certain behaviors. I will say the word that I want the cat to associate with that behavior loudly and clearly, and then I will model that behavior with the cat as best as I can (for instance, if I want the cat to sit, I will press on its haunches until it eventually sits). When the cat does what I want it to do, I use my bridge and provide the cat with a positive reinforcement. I then ask the cat to do the behavior again. After repeated attempts, the cat will associate the spoken word (such as "SIT!", "LIE DOWN!", or "PAW!") with the behavior that I am rewarding him for. Of course, you want to stay consistent with the requests, and not jump from request to request. Also, keep in mind that training any animal requires a lot of patience; animals NEVER get the concept on the first try.
If my cat performs a behavior that is undesired, I will not signal my bridge. Furthermore, I will ignore them until the right behavior is produced. It is essential for a good animal trainer to not give in to the begging and pleading of their animal for reinforcement, no matter how cute and adorable they may act. If you give in to their pleading, you are reversing all of the hard work and behavior modification that you put in to your animal. However, you should NEVER force your animal to perform anything that it doesn't want to. If my lion or tiger does not feel like doing a certain behavior, I skip the behavior and move on to a new one. It is always handy to keep in mind that I am a 120 pound piece of flesh that can easily be broken in half by the tremendous jaw pressure of any of the cats that I work with on a daily basis; I am nothing against their sheer power.
At this point I will reiterate the pay-off of the strong bonds that I have with the cats I work with: I respect them and they trust me. With this trust, man and beast can become one, and the line between what is impossible and possible is blurred. An example of this is the bond that I have with my personal tiger Athena. She is about 3 and a half years old now, and I have raised her since she was 2 days old. She will allow me to do whatever I want to her, and I frequently pull lightly on her tail to get her attention and kiss her on the nose. She will allow me to rest my head on her body and go to sleep, and she will not move. She also protects me from her brother Nero, who can be a bit rough at times. Athena seems to know how fragile I am compared to her and Nero, and when he gets too playful she will swat him in his face as if to say "if you're not going to be gentle with my Mom, you might as well leave".
It is my personal opinion that any animal can be trained, no matter how ferocious it is. Most of the animals that I have worked with are rescues that have come from abusive homes. I have taught these animals that I am trustworthy, and with that bond I was able to make the once fearful animal a social butterfly. Of course, I have collected many scars over the years from these animals, but I realize that it was my fault for overstepping my boundary with them. Each scar that I have accumulated has taught me a lesson about animal behavior, one that I shan't forget any time soon. With the proper amount of love, compassion, care, reinforcement, and trust, any behavior that you can imagine an animal doing is achievable.
As complicated as it may seem, training any animal to do a certain task is relatively easy. A lot of it has to do with repetition and positive reinforcement. As I will discuss later, there are certain steps that need to be followed to achieve the goal of the animal complying to your request. After doing many hours of research and consulting with numerous wild animal trainers and animal behaviorists, I decided that the best way to train my cats was by rewarding the behaviors that I want, and ignoring the behaviors that I didn't want. Eager to please, the animals picked up on my reactions toward their behavior quickly, and wound up learning which behaviors are appropriate and inappropriate rather quickly.
By now, you are probably curious about how to train such a ferocious beast. However, I must state that you should NEVER approach any wild animal, and that you shouldn't try any of what I say in this essay at home. Remember, I am a trained professional that has been working with dangerous animals for the past 6 years. With that said, let me take you into the cage of the beast...
The first step in training a lion or a tiger comes before the cats' eyes and ears even open. Since the dams of my cats were born and raised in captivity, they do not have the maternal instinct and the knowledge needed to properly raise a litter of cubs. When the mother lion or tiger gives birth to the litter, she ignores them immediately because she doesn't know what to do with them. The mother cat will allow me to retrieve her cubs from her cage and take them back to my house. When they are at my house, I clean them off, tie their umbilical cord, and give them their first bottle, which is full of synthetic colostrum. I keep them in a cage that is lined with lightly used clothes that contain my scent. As previously mentioned, lions and tigers are born blind and deaf, and rely on their sense of smell and touch to make sense of the world around them. As the cats sleep with my scent, and associate my scent with their bottle, they start to learn that I am not a threat to them, but rather something that they associate with comfort and maternal care.
When their eyes and ears open at about two weeks of age, the cats start to develop personalities and become more adventurous. Of course, they are extremely happy to make sense of the organism that they have called "mother" all of this time, and they can not get enough of me. I will take them out of their pen and sit on the ground with them, and talk in a calm and soothing voice that doesn't hurt their sensitive ears. I also will lay down on my stomach so I can be at their eye level; this makes me less of a threat for them. They gladly come over and rub their face on mine and, in the case of tigers, chuff, which sounds like an "oof-oof-oof"; chuffing is a sign of affection. Of course, they will still scream for me to give them attention, to feed them, to stimulate them to go to the bathroom, and so on. Like a responsible mother, I tend to their every need round-the-clock. This further associates me with positive interactions rather than negative ones.
Within a few weeks, the cat's senses are honed, and instinct starts to show itself. The cats start stalking me, and pouncing out of nowhere, claws fully extended, teeth bared. Of course, this is only out of play, and wild cats perform the same behaviors with their mothers. And, just like their mothers, I won't tolerate it. When I feel a claw dig into my flesh, I immediately force the cat to retract it, and yell "NO HOOKS!". Likewise, when I feel the cat biting me, I bite it's ear just like a wild lion or tiger mother would; the ear is the most sensitive part of a lion or tiger, and when bit it HURTS. I believe that biting the ear of a large cat is the only proper way to teach the cat not to bite, because it shows him just how painful it is to be bitten. Now, of course the cat will be roaring mad at me, and whip around and usually snarl at me, but with a few calming words and a few gentle touches (and a couple of chuffs if it is a tiger), our loving relationship returns to normal. With a few repetitions of the dire consequences that follow biting and scratching, the average feline will cease in it's behavior.
As the cat gets older, I start teaching it the benefits of positive reinforcement. As previously mentioned, I only reward behaviors that I deem acceptable and ignore behaviors that I deem unacceptable (except for the case of biting and scratching when the cubs are young). This concept is aided by the use of a bridge, which is something that tells the animal that they are doing something right. This bridge can come in the form of a clicker, a whistle, or in the form of a spoken word such as "GOOD!". I start training the animal by using my bridge (I prefer to use clickers) and immediately providing the animal with a primary reinforcement, which is usually food. As with most animals, food seems to work the best when directly rewarding an animal. With repeated exposure to the clicker and the reinforcement that comes along with it, the cat starts to associate the bridge with being rewarded. This step is crucial to the training process because without a consistent bridge, the animal will not know which behaviors are desired and which behaviors are undesired.
Once the lion or tiger is used to the bridge, I start asking him or her to do certain behaviors. I will say the word that I want the cat to associate with that behavior loudly and clearly, and then I will model that behavior with the cat as best as I can (for instance, if I want the cat to sit, I will press on its haunches until it eventually sits). When the cat does what I want it to do, I use my bridge and provide the cat with a positive reinforcement. I then ask the cat to do the behavior again. After repeated attempts, the cat will associate the spoken word (such as "SIT!", "LIE DOWN!", or "PAW!") with the behavior that I am rewarding him for. Of course, you want to stay consistent with the requests, and not jump from request to request. Also, keep in mind that training any animal requires a lot of patience; animals NEVER get the concept on the first try.
If my cat performs a behavior that is undesired, I will not signal my bridge. Furthermore, I will ignore them until the right behavior is produced. It is essential for a good animal trainer to not give in to the begging and pleading of their animal for reinforcement, no matter how cute and adorable they may act. If you give in to their pleading, you are reversing all of the hard work and behavior modification that you put in to your animal. However, you should NEVER force your animal to perform anything that it doesn't want to. If my lion or tiger does not feel like doing a certain behavior, I skip the behavior and move on to a new one. It is always handy to keep in mind that I am a 120 pound piece of flesh that can easily be broken in half by the tremendous jaw pressure of any of the cats that I work with on a daily basis; I am nothing against their sheer power.
At this point I will reiterate the pay-off of the strong bonds that I have with the cats I work with: I respect them and they trust me. With this trust, man and beast can become one, and the line between what is impossible and possible is blurred. An example of this is the bond that I have with my personal tiger Athena. She is about 3 and a half years old now, and I have raised her since she was 2 days old. She will allow me to do whatever I want to her, and I frequently pull lightly on her tail to get her attention and kiss her on the nose. She will allow me to rest my head on her body and go to sleep, and she will not move. She also protects me from her brother Nero, who can be a bit rough at times. Athena seems to know how fragile I am compared to her and Nero, and when he gets too playful she will swat him in his face as if to say "if you're not going to be gentle with my Mom, you might as well leave".
It is my personal opinion that any animal can be trained, no matter how ferocious it is. Most of the animals that I have worked with are rescues that have come from abusive homes. I have taught these animals that I am trustworthy, and with that bond I was able to make the once fearful animal a social butterfly. Of course, I have collected many scars over the years from these animals, but I realize that it was my fault for overstepping my boundary with them. Each scar that I have accumulated has taught me a lesson about animal behavior, one that I shan't forget any time soon. With the proper amount of love, compassion, care, reinforcement, and trust, any behavior that you can imagine an animal doing is achievable.
Give me a minute guys.....okay, I am good with it. Guys....I want a tiger.
ReplyDeleteOkay, maybe not. I must say, this is pretty fascinating stuff. Although, I slightly disagree that these animals can ever be completely "trained", simply because I believe some things are wild and others are domestic. But, It is really super cool what she does. I would love to see it some day!