©WCS
September 30, 2024
Creature Comfort
- as seen by -
Kathryn Bennett
Acupuncture is a novel and nuanced approach to animal husbandry.
The Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium Marine Mammal Trainer Sarah Rashed recently trained an older California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) to participate in voluntary acupuncture sessions. The goal was to help alleviate some age-related joint pain. This had never been trained before at the Aquarium and was a new challenge for our staff. Rashed had to train the sea lion to lay still for over 15 minutes while an acupuncturist placed needles in his flippers, along his back, and even on his head (above, inset). The sea lion’s long history of husbandry training and willingness to learn moved this process along with ease. Rashed worked alongside our veterinary staff and an animal acupuncture specialist to train the voluntary acupuncture over a few months. At times when a fish treat wasn’t a primary motivator, Rashed reinforced the sea lion with whisker rubs during these sessions. This was an incredible testament to the trainer-animal relationship.
We believe these acupuncture sessions helped to make the sea lion as comfortable as possible. Voluntary x-rays, ultrasounds, injections, and biopsies are behaviors commonly trained among other animals for their husbandry care.
The sea lion’s success with voluntary acupuncture reminds us why positive reinforcement training is so valuable – to help benefit animals’ welfare for as long as they are with us.
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