What do you do while your home is being renovated?

What do you do while your home is being renovated? Maybe stay at a hotel for a few days. Or maybe you go on “business as usual.” While they weren’t visible to the public during construction on their newly renovated habitat, our African lions had access to both indoor and outdoor areas, and they also spent some time learning and participating in cognitive research. In typical cat fashion, lions do spend a lot of time sleeping, around 20 hours per day! When they aren’t sleeping, the Lion Care Team is working to keep the lions physically and mentally stimulated. Whether it’s a new scent to roll around in or a different toy to bat around, each day is different for the boys.

While the lions were behind the scenes during the renovations, our team had more access to them during the day and therefore had more opportunities for training sessions. The training sessions are all positive reinforcement based and are completely voluntary for the lions. They get snacks for every correct response and only participate if they want to. The training behaviors that the lions know allow the keepers and veterinarians to better care for them. We can see most parts of their bodies, including the bottoms of their paws, and into their mouths. We can even do voluntary blood draws from veins in their tails! Using this method, we can get visual exams or take routine blood samples, all with minimal stress to the lions or to us. All of this training they participate in is facilitated not only to keep them mentally and physically stimulated, but also keeps our relationships with them strong as well. They learn to trust that if we ask them to do something, they are going to get something in return.

We also had opportunities to test their cognitive skills. Our Research Team has come up with a couple of cognitive trials to test their abilities. One of the studies will determine how pessimistic or optimistic each individual is by essentially presenting an object and allowing them to choose their reinforcement. If they choose what is determined to be of higher value to them, they will be considered to have an optimistic outlook. If they choose the lower value item, they will be considered to have a more pessimistic outlook. It has been really cool to see them process what is being asked of them and to watch them decide what they want as a reinforcement.

Next time you’re at the Zoo, be sure to stop by and see Hondo, Hatari, and Azizi in their newly updated home!

Shauna D.
Senior Keeper, Mammals