Make, Have, Get, Let, Help

BEFORE YOU READ

Look at the photos. How do you think these animals learned to perform like this? Do you think people should use animals for entertainment? Read this article about performance animals.

A trainer rides on the noise of the giant

                   “Oooooh!” cries the audience as the orcas leap from the water in perfect formation. “Aaaaah!” they shout as the trainer rides across the pool on the nose of one of the giants.

For years, dolphins, orcas, and other sea mammals have been making audiences say oooh and aaaah at water parks like Sea World. But how do trainers get nine-ton whales to do acrobatic tricks with a human or make them “dance”?

                     It’s not easy. Traditional animal trainers controlled animals with collars and leashes and made them perform by using cruel punishments. Then, in the 1940’s, parks wanted to have dolphins do tricks. The first trainers faced big problems. You can’t get a dolphin to wear a collar. And you can’t punish a dolphin –– it will just swim away from you! This challenge made the trainers develop a kinder, more humane method to teach animals. For complicated acts, the trainer breaks the act into many smaller parts and has the animal learn each part separately.

                   Positive reinforcement has revolutionized our treatment of animals in zoos. Elephants, for example, need a lot of physical care. However, traditional trainers used force to make elephants “behave.”

Elephants performing in circus

Elephants sometimes rebelled and hurt or even killed their keepers. Through positive reinforcement, elephants at modern zoos have learned to stand at the bars of their cage and let keepers draw blood for tests and take care of their feet. Trainers even get primates (monkey – apes) to bring their own bedding to the keepers for washing. Gary Priest, a former orca trainer, helped the keepers train the elephants at the San Diego Zoo. Do the elephants like the new system? “They love it! The’ii do anything we ask. They’d fly if they could,” Priest said.

Unfortunatelly, not all trainers use positive reinforcement. Animal rights organizations have found abuses of animals actors by circuses and other entertainment companies. And the question remains: Even with kind treatment, should we keep animals captive and have them perform just for our entertainment? in the wild, orcas may travel 100 miles a day. Is it really kind to make them live in small pools of chemically treated water? Today, more and more people say the only real kindness is to let these animals live natural lives.

AFTER YOU READ

Read the first sentence of each item. Then circle the letter of sentence that is closest in meaning.

1.      You can’t get a dolphin to wear a collar.

a.       Dolphins wear collars.

b.       Dolphins don’t wear collars.

2.      The trainer lets an animal act freely.

a.       The animal is allowed to do what it wants.

b.       The animal must behave well.

3.      He helped the keepers train the elephants.

a.       He trained the elephants alone.

b.       He worked with the keepers.