INDIVIDUAL CONSULTATION AND DIVERSE SERVICES
FOR MODERN ELEPHANT HUSBANDRY AND
OTHER ZOO ANIMALS
FOR MODERN ELEPHANT HUSBANDRY AND
OTHER ZOO ANIMALS
I have established the one-man company "MOTIER".
For about 30 years I am active in animal husbandry, especially elephants, as well as elephant management.
In several facilities, I could achieve sound technical, organisational and logistic expertise.
I would like to share my knowledge, to provide you with advice and assistance.
I would love to help analysing new situations or individual problems and to find and establish effective solutions quickly.
In 1991 I started my training as keeper in Germany, Tierpark Berlin Friedrichsfelde. In my last year as trainee in 1993 I already got the chance to work in the elephant department. Until 2007 I took care of African and Asian elephants in direct and protected contact (bulls) and I had the luck to experience the birth and rearing of 11 calves.
From 2007 - 2009 I have been working in the field research station Niederfinow of the Leibniz-IZW Berlin. My responsibilities were the apprentice training as well as the wildlife management.
Because elephants are my great passion, I changed to Vienna zoo in 2009. After 9 month working as elephant keeper, I got the position of the head keeper of the Africa/Elephant section. All African elephants were kept in protected contact already, but the training still was done with the dominance of the keepers. With the help of training courses and workshops for animal training and personal commitment, the elephant keeper team and I could reach a high level in elephant management and husbandry.
We managed to steer two events of birth in protected contact and successfully trained the calves using the method of positive reinforcement.
One of the calves was the result of the world’s first artificial insemination with frozen semen of a wild bull. This project was a cooperation of Vienna zoo together with the Leibniz-IZW Berlin, the Zooparc de Beauval and Pittsburgh Zoo. The insemination was done without sedation, because of the perfect preparation and well-organised training.
Later on we shared our experience with keepers, zoological curators and vets of other European zoos by conducting workshops.
With the support of my employers, I also started to consult other zoos in changing their elephant management system to protected contact or to help with other questions. Additionally I developed plenty of enrichment items for elephants and other species and started to produce e.g. very robust hay nets for elephants.
In 2018 my wife and I moved from Vienna zoo to Hannover zoo. The challenge was to change the management system of the Asian elephants from direct to protected contact. The consultation concerning construction measures in the old house as well as the staff training were part of my job. Additionally I have been involved in the planning and realisation of the construction of a new bull house as well as an enlarged outdoor enclosure and a new house for the elephant cows as a consultant.