Yes, you can train a crocodile (find more here about why training is important and who else I work with)!
We have a pair of Cuban crocodiles, Rico and Havana, who have been trained to enter a shut away area. This is in order for our keepers to safely enter the enclosure.
Clever crocs
The Cuban crocodile is very intelligent and capable of quite advanced behaviours such as tool use and play behaviour. Crocodiles have been observed balancing small twigs on their nose during nesting season. They wait for birds to collect the twig and get snapped up! This baiting behaviour is quite advanced and gives us an insight into their intelligence. After all, they have been around for millions of years so they know a thing or two about survival! Crocodiles also have a very good memory which helps them to adapt and learn quickly, making them perfect for training!
The training process
They already associate a knocking on the barrier sound to being fed so come over when hearing this noise. To get them to come over to the training area we introduced a target stick. We used just a long bamboo pole with a blue frisbee attached. They are able to see colour in particular on the blue end of the spectrum.
We started by offering the food at the same time as presenting the target. After a few sessions they learnt that going towards the target meant they would get a reward. This led to them starting to follow the target which enabled us to bring them into the shut away area.
The first time they came in we fed them straight away and did not touch the shutter.
The next session we held the target for a while in the training area and switched on the power to the shutter. It makes a small amount of noise and vibration so we needed to get them used to this. We lowered the shutter just a little and then rewarded them for staying put.
We continued this until we were able to hold their attention long enough to fully close the shutter and reward at the end. The first time we fully closed it, we opened it up again straight away.
Then we would have it shut for a little longer each time until we were happy that each crocodile was comfortable for us to leave it shut while we cleaned in their enclosure. I am confident now that they are happy with this routine so we now maintain this weekly.
Come and see Havana and Rico for yourself in our brand new Reptile House soon.
