This video documents a cooperative-care and management programme developed with sea lions. The behaviours were selected around likely management and veterinary needs, with the aim of making necessary care more predictable and reducing avoidable stress for the animals.

The sequence begins with a return-to-pen cue, giving the team a safer and more reliable way to move the sea lions into their indoor pens. Before this work, responses could be inconsistent: animals sometimes refused, returned to the pool, slid into team members’ legs or blocked the only exit.

Individual name cues were then developed so animals sharing a space could be called and moved one at a time. The footage also shows similar-sounding names and words being used without a response, demonstrating discrimination between cues rather than simply responding to any familiar sound. The same individual cues could then be used when a group were in a shared area or pool together, providing another way to manage individuals within a group.

The cooperative-care sequence begins with a sea lion stationed for a routine body check, including visual and tactile examination of the head, eyes and front flippers. This was developed proactively around areas likely to be useful for routine monitoring and veterinary examination.

The sea lion is then cued onto a weighing scale, allowing body weight to be recorded as part of routine care.

The next clips show cooperative eye care. A fluorescein stain is a diagnostic eye test that uses an orange dye and a blue light to detect scratches, foreign objects, or damage on the surface of the cornea. The sea lion calmly tilts his head to the side and presents an open eye, allowing the handler to apply a couple of drops. All the while, the animal remains voluntarily positioned for examination. A separate behaviour allows a sea lion to immerse her face in a container of saline solution and hold her eyes open, providing another cooperative option for eye care.

A longer full-body examination follows. The sea lion lies down while touch and gentle pressure are applied across different areas of the body, then presents his underside and abdomen for further examination. These behaviours provide foundations that can later support positioning for procedures such as ultrasound, radiography, injections, and blood sampling.

The footage also shows rear-flipper presentation, providing access for visual and tactile examination when required.

A dental-care clip shows an early training approximation involving dental-instrument contact. The sea lion gives a small flinch during the interaction. This has been retained deliberately: cooperative-care training is not always a polished finished behaviour, and the animal’s response provides information about whether the next step should progress, change or become easier.

Another sea lion had an abnormally growing rear-flipper nail that required periodic management to prevent it growing towards the flipper. Cooperative presentation allowed the area to be accessed and the nail managed as needed.

The next sequence shows preparation for specialist veterinary equipment. Simple simulation props reproduced relevant features of equipment so that positioning, contact and stillness could become familiar before the real equipment was required.

Ultrasound preparation is shown first through protected contact, with a physical barrier between the sea lion and team member, and then in the direct-contact arrangement used with these animals at the time. The handling arrangement changes, but the underlying principles of preparation and cooperative participation remain the same.

Further clips show positioning for front-flipper, pelvis and jaw radiography (X-rays). The required behaviour was broken into components such as body position, presentation of the relevant area, equipment placement and remaining still, allowing those elements to be developed progressively.

The sea lion is also shown placing her face voluntarily into an anaesthetic mask and responding to a cue to take deeper breaths. The purpose was to build familiarity with the equipment and behaviour before anaesthesia might be required and avoid other common methods such as darting or restraint, which can be a stressful experience for the animals.

In another protected-contact sequence, the sea lion is introduced gradually to a warming pad and tourniquet while remaining positioned at the barrier. These can form part of preparation for blood sampling, with local warming helping to improve vessel access when needed.

A brief saliva sample is then collected voluntarily for cortisol analysis as part of a stress-related research study.

The sequence concludes with a cooperative contraceptive injection through protected contact, which was required every few months during breeding season as part of responsible management. Stationing, body presentation and remaining in position provide the foundation, while skin preparation, swabbing, touch, pressure and needle contact are introduced progressively rather than appearing for the first time during the procedure.

The value of this work is not the trained behaviour in isolation. It is in anticipating likely experiences under human care and developing cooperative options that can make those experiences more predictable and reduce avoidable stress. What is appropriate depends on the species, the individual animal, the purpose of the behaviour, the risks involved, veterinary input, team capability, available resources and the wider management context.