In Sabrina I.
C.A. Brando’s article, “Advances in Husbandry Training in Marine Mammal Care Programs”, the main idea she is discussing is how animal care programs have seen many refinements and improvements over the vast majority of time from the first marine mammals who were brought into captivity to now. The authors claim is that the continuous advancement of medical and husbandry knowledge and the implementation of behavioral learning principles have contributed to a great improvement of contemporary marine mammal husbandry programs. Initially, the training of marine mammals was motivated by entertainment industry and research outcomes but soon it became clear that the different training methods applied to the daily care as well. Brando’s reason for this claim was that husbandry programs brought huge benefits for animals and their care as well as for education, research and conservation purposes.
The marine mammal community continuously reviews the current methods of training, applying behavioral learning more effectively. Though the author agrees that the use of punishment could lead Chinta 2to dangerous situations when working in such close proximity, she contradicts the statement saying that training methods with frequent use of punishers and other aversive methods have been modified, by reducing or abolishing the use of punishers in many facilities. Brando specifically states that A marine mammal husbandry program should include behavioral, psychological and physiological components.
A complete husbandry program includes a combination of different aspects from a variety of disciplines but should cover species – specific nutrition, environment, handling and transport procedures. Though, the scholar says that the captivity of aquatic animals in husbandry training is beneficial she doesn’t forget to add the downsides of training. However her thematic point of view clearly wavers in the direction that training programs are beneficial in that they provide resources not available in the natural habitat of aquatic creatures.
Analysis In Brando’s scholarly paper excerpted from, International Journal of Comparative Psychology, her purpose is to illustrate how aquariums are beneficial for both research on marine mammals and the welfare of aquatic species. She influences the readers opinion by providing us with scientific studies and improvisions that took place in husbandry programs. In the article, we are introduced to how the husbandry programs have grown into large organizations to benefit the existence of marine ecomorphs. The author explains to us how being able to legally keep these organizations running help the creatures of the sea who are in need of assistance. She further comments into how these Chinta 3programs are assisting.
For example, Brando mentions that husbandry programs provide medical attention like hydration, pregnancy, and physical disabilities. Moreover, the programs allow for regular attention such as brushing, flushing, and cleaning with a dental pick or water jet. Apparently captive breeding programs have come along way as well due to animals participating in voluntary A.
I. and semen collection. Brando argues that by teaching animals to participate in their daily care they gain more control and choice over their environment. In her own words she states “By using behavioral learning principles we have increased the welfare standard of the animals under our care, by being concerned about the mental and physical health.”(Brando p.783) Evaluation In the scholarly article, “Advances in Husbandry Training in Marine Mammal Care Programs”, written by Sabrina Brando I think that the author was successful in portraying her opinion on husbandry training and reaching the intended audience.
Brando accomplished this by using specific data collected from other research teams and stating the exact date when the research took place. This allowed for more people to be able to better understand the article and where the authors evidence originated from. Moreover, she had evidence from different time periods that either led up to or are going to happen to the present system of marine mammal training. A lot of Brando’s criteria came off of specific species of animals like Orcas, dolphins, seals, and Beluga’s.
The author ended with the thought that the development of communication in the marine mammal field made the sharing of information accessible to the whole community, and that the Chinta 4recognition that a close collaboration, respect and understanding of each others’ work as well as effective communication are of utmost importance to make husbandry programs a success. However, she didn’t end there since she wanted to draw more interest so she put what might occur in the future as well. As a whole, the article had well documented arguments phasing different time events leading to the articles main theme of being able to work harmoniously with aquatic animals as we do other animals and connected the readers to the argument at hand.
