Can we use nudge theory to help endangered animals save themselves?

Endangered wildlife often doesn’t have time to evolve to rapidly changing environments. Now conservationists are manipulating animal behaviour, using “nudge” techniques akin to those designed to influence humans

By Ute Eberle

KEN RAMIREZ is an animal trainer with decades of experience, including a 25-year stint at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois. He has taught all sorts of creatures to do all manner of tricks. Once, he trained thousands of butterflies to perform a choreographed display in a botanical garden. It took several weeks, but even he was impressed with the result. “I watched in awe,” he says. “They appeared to undulate to the rhythm of the music …