Good Boy! Sharks to be Trained to Roll Over and Beg for food at UK Aquariums

Daily Mail ^ | 02nd June 2009

[nickcarraway]

Sharks are to be trained like dolphins to feed from keepers and even roll over and have their tummies tickled.

Brave keepers at British aquariums will use the techniques after research showed they responded well to tuition. Experts hope the training will reduce stress levels for the captive beasts.

The UK's Sea Life Centres are to begin a period of intensive tuition by using coloured boards and sounds to train the sharks in a similar way that scientist Ivan Pavlov trained his dogs.

Sharks - superorder Selachimorpha in Latin - learn the signals and then when they see or hear them, they approach the keeper who holds a 'target stick'.

The sharks then rub their noses against the stick and wait until they are fed. It will mean that feeding becomes easier because each shark in a tank will know when it is his turn. U.S research suggest the brightest ones should respond to commands within just three months.

In experiments carried out in America some varieties - including the zebra shark - will allow themselves to be picked form the water and cuddled.

No one had attempted to train sharks in this way before, but it could now teach experts a great deal about the creatures.

[count-your-change]

The aquarium reports the program was a huge success even though several trainers are missing and the sharks didn't seem to want to eat afterwards.