Herding/Moving Animals

 How do you get a prey animal to move where you want? 

First off, what is a prey animal? This refers to any animal that is typically herbivorous or omnivorous and in their natural habitat is actively hunted by other animals. For example, at NZA this could include; Blackbuck, Llamas, Wallaby, Little Penguins and Emu. In a farm setting this could be: Cows, horses, goats and sheep. If an animal would rather run away than enter into a physical altercation, they are likely a prey animal. Equally, if they have eyes on the side of their head. Eyes on the side = run and hide (prey), eyes ahead = you're dead (predator). 

Now how do you move them? In groups or individually. These types of animals are generally able to be herded where you need them to go. Ever wondered how a sheepdog herds a flock? You're about to find out, mostly. 

Setting up the area. 

Animals typically assume that any solid looking barrier is indeed solid. This means you can hang sheets/tarps/etc. and it's very unlikely that the animals will attempt to run through them so making temporary chutes or pathways is pretty quick and simple. Once you have them moving, they'll generally keep moving away from you. 

Moving around the animal/s. 

The animal will move away from pressure. Now this is not necessarily physical pressure (although, believe me, there are some VERY stubborn cows out there that like to prove this wrong!), but pressure that occurs from you being in a space. This is what you use to your advantage to move an animal. If you want them to go right, move to the left. If you want them to go forward, move behind and so on. The best way to know where you need to be is to picture the following: a mid-line down the animal from head to tail, and a cross line through the shoulders. Whichever side of the line you are on, the animal will move the other way. Then it simply becomes a case of continuing that pressure to keep the animal moving. 

This can be done many ways, either as an individual person, a driver in a buggy or vehicle, or a large group of people to cover more areas. Ever seen a keeper randomly waving an arm at an animal? That's to make themselves appear bigger/create pressure on a side to move the animal the opposite way. 

Of course, generally we want to have the time needed to train an animal/group to come to us or move where we need them in a positive reinforcement method. However, sometimes time/unpredicted events mean we have to use slightly more traditional methos as above. We cans till make traditional herding reduced stress, by taking it slow, allowing the animal/s to have breaks and keeping an eye out for species specific stress indicators. 

Happy animal moving!