One thing you’ll always hear us say at ABI is “We always say we never use the words ‘always’ and ‘never'” It’s meant to be tongue in cheek, and it refers to the lack of absolutes in animal training. And so it is with imprints and parent-raised birds. It helps to make some generalizations about what we can expect with various species, but each bird is an individual, which is why we personally haven’t found it to be helpful to make broad-sweeping statements about what qualifies as an appropriate ambassador animal.
There are ethical considerations to be met, and that’s what we aim to help people with along the way, but when it comes to how to set up your ambassador program for success, we want trainers to understand what an impact a well-raised, well-socialized bird can do for their organization, as well as what to do when they don’t have those choices. What do we do instead? The answers are not always so simple. Have owl or other bird of prey training questions? You can always try out the Lab! Join us for just $3 with the coupon code TEN for ten days on any of our annual memberships.