00:03Today at the San Diego Zoo we are working on some basic target training with one of our critically endangered
00:08lizards, Anagata Rock Iguana.
00:14Target training is very important for a couple of main reasons.
00:17One is enrichment. This is like very mentally stimulating for the animal.
00:21It's encouraging natural behaviors like foraging, climbing on the rocks.
00:24It's very good exercise.
00:25It also makes it ease of management for the animal as well too, whether we're doing a veterinary procedure or
00:31shifting the animal.
00:32He's doing this on his own free will, completely stress free.
00:36Target.
00:37For the target we'll typically use a brightly colored object.
00:40These guys in the wild typically eat fruits and flowers and that's almost kind of like candy to them.
00:45So they're going to be attracted to that.
00:46So that's why for our target we're going to use a red object.
00:50This is kind of going to get him excited and think he's getting a flower.
00:52And as soon as he touches that target I'm going to give him a reward like a sweet potato or
00:56maybe a grape.
01:00Good boy.
01:01When you're first target training an animal and you finally see him starting to learn the behavior,
01:06it's super rewarding and it's amazing.
01:07You can see him actually connecting with you and actually learning the behavior.
01:12So it's really exciting.
01:12It's really exciting.
01:13back in 2015.ะฝะต
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