Animal Care and Animal Behaviour

Animal behaviourists and animal carers enjoy a diverse range of career opportunities, ranging from zookeeping and professional pet training, right through to wildlife conservation and working for animal charities. This bundle of two of our most popular courses, Animal Care and Animal Behaviour, ensures that you know how to meet the moral and legal requirements of caring for animals, as well as equipping you with a clear understanding of animal behaviour. During the Animal Care course, you will explore the importance of quantity and timing of the feeding of animals, signs of ill health, the housing requirements of animals, the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and much more. Meanwhile, in the Animal Behaviour course, you will look at a wide range of animals and be able to understand their behaviour in different contexts. You will start off by exploring what animal behaviour actually is, before going on to look into the methods and recordings of it. The course will cover other topics from the food chain, how animals communicate, and mating systems to looking at what domestication is. All course materials will be delivered to you by post or via email, so it couldn't be easier. Our experienced and friendly tutors will help you every step of the way by email. You can work at your own pace. Completed coursework can be delivered by post or via email, so handing in an assignment is simple. These courses can be enrolled onto separately, but by enrolling onto this combined course you will receive a considerable discount. It is ideal for:

• Students who want to develop their animal behaviour knowledge
• Those aspiring to work or progress their career in the animal industry.

• Animal technician
• Equine groom
• Pest control surveyor
• Animal attendant
• Animal keeper
• Large animal technician
• Trainee zookeeper
• Contract animal technician
• Mammal keeper
• Primate care staff
• Animal care assistant
• Animal rehomer
• Pet health advisor

Course Content

Animal Behaviour Level 3

Unit 1 Studying and recording animal behaviour

• What is animal behaviour?
• The study of animal behaviour
• Methods and recording
• Results

Unit 2 Prey vs. predator

• The food chain
• Evolutionary arms race
• Adaptations to capture prey
• Luring prey
• Crypsis (Camouflage, transparency, sleep cycles)

Unit 3 Solitary and group living animals

• How animals communicate
• Competition from other species
• Communication and the senses
• Visual displays
• Group or solitary?
• Hierarchy systems in group-living animals

Unit 4 Mating and parental strategies

• Attracting a potential mate
• Mating systems and parental responsibility
• Monogamy and polygyny
• Mating systems
• Imprinting

Unit 5 Changes in behaviour through domestication

• What is domestication?
• Breeds
• How does domestication change the animal?
• Hibernation
• Hormones and their effects
• Abnormal behaviours

Unit 6 Animal learning

• Instinct
• Simple learning theories
• Animal learning in training
• Human influence
• Ethics in training and the welfare of animals
• Animal intelligence
• Training animals

Module 1 Animal feeding

• Types of feeder
• Nutritional requirements
• Vitamins
• Minerals
• Choosing and preparing food
• Quantity and timing of feeding

Module 2 Animal accommodation

• Housing requirements
• Bedding materials
• Fixtures and fittings
• Cleaning and maintaining
• Waste disposal

Module 3 Animal health

• Disease prevention
• Common diseases of dogs, cats and rabbits
• Endoparasites and ectoparasites
• Signs of ill health
• First aid procedures and remedies

Module 4 Handling, restraining and moving animals

• Why do we need to handle, restrain and move animals?
• Personal protective equipment
• Handling and restraint equipment
• Reducing stress

Module 5 Animal behaviour

• Normal behaviour
• Emotions
• Specific species
• Abnormal behaviour
• Stereotypic behaviour
• Observing behaviour
• Methods and recording
• Avoiding/reducing abnormal behaviour
• Environmental enrichment

Module 6 Animals in society

• Welfare needs
• How can we meet these needs?
• The Animal Welfare Act 2006
• Current legislation
• Animals in production
• Intensive farming
• Free-range farming
• Organic farming
• Animals in sport
• Animals as assistance