Animal learning and husbandry training

Mellen and Ellis authored a foundational book chapter explaining how learning theory underpins husbandry training in zoos. They described how operant conditioning with positive reinforcement can train animals to participate voluntarily in their own care, from shifting between enclosures to presenting body parts for examination. The chapter framed training as both a welfare tool, reducing the stress of restraint and anaesthesia, and an enrichment activity that provides mental stimulation and choice. It helped establish protected-contact, positive-reinforcement training as a professional standard for large carnivores and other animals. The work remains a key reference for cooperative-care programs, including training big cats for voluntary injections and blood draws.