Natural Encounters, Inc.

Natural Encounters is far more than a bird show provider!

Natural Encounters, Inc. (NEI), is a world leader in animal behaviour and zoological consulting, with experience in more than 35 countries and over 130 facilities. It is out mission to engage, inspire, and empower humans to connect with the natural world. NEI offers onsite and offsite professional workshops, consultation, exhibit design and activation, and more.

We specialize in animal behaviour, guest experience, team dynamics and communication, and consulting on zoo-wide animal behaviour issues. It’s our goal to teach the art and science of animal training principles to all who want to learn it and to produce inspirational public programs that inspire caring that leads to conservation action. All animals, from marmosets and elephants to reptiles and fish, have potential to use their natural behaviors to make deep and lasting impressions on guests.

Throughout the zoological community, demand for establishing behavior management programs has increased. In response, NEI has established an extraordinary cross-disciplinary behavior management training and program development team. These professionals come from the fields of animal training, biology, theater, and show production. Their expertise encompasses a wide breadth of taxa found in zoological collections. In addition to the project leaders and consulting staff, NEI also employs over fifty full-time animal trainers. From husbandry and medical behaviors to engaging show behaviors, NEI covers it all. The donations we raise through our shows go directly to our non-profit sister company, the Natural Encounters Conservation Fund (NECF) which supports in-situ wildlife conservation projects all over the world. To date, NECF has donated over $1.8 million to more than 70 in situ conservation projects.

We are proud to offer:

• • In-person workshops on contemporary animal training
  • On-site and virtual consultation
  • A robust library of recorded behavior talks, papers, and presentations with diverse topics
  • Animal show production
  • One-on-one coaching
  • …and more!