In addition to their many other responsibilities, zookeepers play an important role as animal trainers. As they take care of the animals, every time they walk into an exhibit, they influence the animal's behavior, whether good or bad.
    Quendryth "Q" Marshall and Candice Robinson, animal keepers at the the Brandywine Zoo, use a special kind of positive reinforcement with the animals called target training. Target training, also known as animal husbandry training, was first used by marine mammal trainers. It was used to teach animals how to do tricks. Now zoos have begun to use it as a way to manage the animals. Many zoos throughout the world use target training as their main form of behavior modification. Target training has eliminated the stress from such tasks as vaccinations or routine physicals. It enables the keepers to keep the animals in one spot without any physical restraint. In addition, the animal's minds are being stimulated, and the trust between animal and keeper is gained. There is also more interaction between the animal and the keeper. This allows the keeper to be more aware of the animal's overall condition.
   The first and most important thing when introducing target training is the animals need to be comfortable with the keeper. They will make very little progress if they are scared or unsure of the person. The first step of building this trust can be accomplished by letting the animal become familiar with the target training tools. One of the tools is some form of treat that the animal likes. For example, the otters like fish, the binturongs like bananas, and the coatis enjoy mealworms. The other training tools include a clicker, which is a hand held device that makes a clicking noise to let the animals know that they have done the behavior correctly, and the target, a stick with white masking tape on the end.
    Animal keeper, Candice Robinson, began using target training with the tamarin monkeys about two years ago. She was very successful with one in particular named Joe. Joe was an ornery cotton top tamarin. The keepers were unable to go in with this monkey to service his exhibit because he was very aggressive. Through target training he gained her trust, and now other animal keepers are able to go in with him with no problem.
    Just recently the keepers have started training the otters. The first day Delta, the female otter, did very well. She targeted the stick throughout the exhibit. They did not have such good luck with the male otter, Jester. He did not understand what they were asking. However, by following the female around and noticing what she was doing, he finally began to get the hang of it. The keepers kept working with both otters until they were comfortable targeting throughout the exhibit.
    The next step was to bring in the squeeze cage. A squeeze cage has an opening on either end with a door that slides up and down. Once the animal is inside, the keepers are able to make the cage smaller by using a crank. This allows the animal to be gently confined in order to give vaccinations or to move the animals. At first the animals were very apprehensive about the cage. Targeting has started to eliminate that fear and teach the otters to trust the keepers. With patience the keepers have been able to train the otters to target for a longer amount of time by using the term "hold". Once they were able to get them to "hold", they began to target them around the squeeze cage, but not in it. They have had some trouble with getting Delta to "hold". She does not have the patience of Jester. However, Delta has been the most comfortable being in the squeeze cage.  Within the first few days she was in the squeeze cage targeting. The final step is to get  both otters to target into the squeeze cage separately and hold their position. Hopefully,  with continued training they will be successful.
    The second set of animals that the keepers have been working with are the binturongs. The keepers want these animals to target to the front of their exhibit. They have been more of a challenge. These animals were very skittish of the sound that the clicker made. The first task was to get them used to the sound. Once that was achieved they slowly began learning the behavior that the keepers were asking of them. The keepers were then able to use this behavior for educational purposes, as well as general maintenance of the animal, such as trimming their nails and giving vaccinations.
    In the future the keepers hope to expand their training to include the condors, coatimundi, capybaras, and maybe even the macaws and the Amazon parrot. In general, target training has been an educational and enjoyable experience for both the keepers and the participating animals.