The Training of Wild Animals

Every man or woman who trains animals has what are termed “accidents.” Animals differ in temperament, mood, and nature as human beings do, and the trainer learns to read the int...

There are three essentials in the care and feeding of wild animals--good food, cleanliness, and exercise. Food and cleanliness come first, but exercise is nearly as important, a...

To secure the right man for the training of wild animals is about the most serious problem that the proprietor of an animal exhibition has to solve; very often the problem remai...

An animal learns by association. Though it is a common belief, fear is not the reason for his obedience to the trainer’s commands. Habit and ignorance are what cause the animal...

The next stage in the training of a lion is for the trainer to enter the cage again with the chair and stick. No longer militant, but somewhat timid, the animal keeps in his cor...

It is a long time since naturalists and philosophers maintained the doctrine that animals, being controlled by instinct, were quite incapable of comprehending new ideas, and of...

Although my family was one of animal trainers and exhibitors, my father did not wish me to follow so hazardous a profession, and decided that I should become a clergyman of the...

It must not be supposed that all captive felines are amenable to education. The personal equation enters in very largely. What will do for the lion may do for the tiger, the leo...

The general impression is, that when the trainer has made his final bow and the band has given a gentle suggestion to those departing by playing “Say ‘Au revoir,’ and not good-b...

All wild beasts in their natural state will hunt and kill their food when hungry, and if too lazy to do this,--which is frequently the case with the lion,--they will keep a look...

What those who have charge of wild animals in captivity, and especially trainers, dread most among the large carnivora, is that inexplicable change of temperament on the part of...

The arena has been in use for public spectacles and amusements from the earliest ages, and its popularity has never diminished. The great changes, however, which have taken plac...

Few who see wild animals in cages realize the vast amount of trouble, danger, and expense necessary to get them there. The greatest danger lies in capturing the animals in their...