Enrichment

“Animal Well-Being”

Animal Welfare Act

• The 1985 amendment to the Animal Welfare Act called for providing an environment for laboratory primates that is 'adequate to promote (their) psychological well-being.' Because this term was difficult to define, 'environmental enrichment" was proposed as language that is more useful for implementation as the U.S. Department of Agriculture regulates the Act.

What is Environmental Enrichment?

• Techniques in captive animal husbandry which attempt to meet the physical and psychological needs of an animal in an enclosure with respect to the veterinary/medical, biology and behavioral/ecological factors in line with the species natural history.

My own definition:

• Enrichment is when the animals have

FUN

Natural environmentLab

• Field studies of nonhuman primates have demonstrated that they employ high levels of cognitive, social, and behavioral skills to meet the challenges of their natural environment

Environmental Enrichment is Important for 3 Reasons:

1.- Improve the physical condition and psychological of captive animals.

2.- It’s more interesting and educational for the visitors at the zoo.

3.- Help to preserve different species on different ways:

a) Increase the reproduction of endangered species.

b) Animals develop normal behaviors. c) Life span is longer.

Enrichment:

a) Allow animals to develop their own species behavior. b) Allow animals to take control of their own lives. c) Eliminate the frustration and boredom. d) Make the environment more interesting in captivity. e) Allow animals to be more active

¿CONOCES A TU ANIMAL(S) QUE VAS A ENRIQUECER?

1.- Individual Records (behavioral, medical) 2.- Natural history of the species 3.- Individual personality (eg shy or curious) 4.- Hierarchical position 5.- Style and preference in obtaining their food, knowing that the food is used as the first activity 6.- General skills . An animal that has not been enriched probably do not have the same skills as a wild animal 7.- Personal locomotion, ex. an animal with arthritis will move with a unique style for its physical limitation

How can you enrich an animal exhibit/cage?

• Physical Environment

• Social Environment

• Diet

• Senses

• Operational

Swinging and climbingLab

• Swings and climbing apparatuses can be made of flexible PVC tubing, metal bars, cargo nets, or plastic milk crates. Obviously, the selection must be based on safety for the animal, utility, sanitizability, and durability.

Physical Environment

Jungle gymLab

• Enrichment through social contact can be provided in an exercise environment, as well as in the housing area. The mixed age and mixed sex group shown here has access to a quarter-acre corral that contains a jungle gym.

Playgrounds

Cage furnitureLab

• Some animals may bully others by direct eye contact. Cage "furniture" such as shelves, perches, and places to escape or hide should be staggered along the room walls to minimize the amount of direct eye contact the primates would be forced to make if all furniture were aligned at the same level

Busy-box toyLab• Toys suitable for pre-

school age children can often withstand rough treatment from infant monkeys. These two camera-shy cynomolgus infants spend most of their time near this "busy-box' toy.

• Of course, for large infant primates, the size of the toy must increase proportionately, as must the amount of abuse the toy can withstan

Furniture

Furniture

Mirrors

• Plexiglas mirrors can be used in a primate holding room to allow the animals fuller visual communication with each other

Baboon corralLab

• This large enclosure housing baboons contains numerous concrete culverts that provide shelter for the animals, perching substrates, as well as places to retreat from other animals during bouts of aggression.

Lab• When

interspecies combinations of animals are planned, it is essential that the species have similar communication signals and behaviors.

Social Environment

Social

Staff in playroomLab

• A third social contact option is direct contact with humans, which can be a rewarding experience for all participants if properly conducted. It is, however, a time-consuming demand on staff, and it may be appropriate to train volunteers or hire additional staff for this purpose.

Staff training primateLab

• At times, human interaction occurs in an experiment-related context, such as during the training phase of sampling procedures when an animal is being trained to extend its leg for a blood sample

Staff in exercise areaLab

• Non-experiment human-primate interaction can occur during an exercise time. Providing toys at that time that are not otherwise available to the animals can provide further stimulation and add variety to the situation.

Diet

Senses

Operational

PVC pipes

Food puzzleLab

• Increased activity in a social setting has already been described. However, increased activity, or play, can also occur in a non-social context. This image illustrates a toy suspended outside of the cage and a food puzzle. Food pellets are manipulated until they fall to the bottom cell, where they can be taken out.

Size/Form Complex/Elements

a) Visual barriers

b) Structures to claim and move

c) Substrates

d) Places for rest and sleep

e) Temporally elements

BlanketsLab

• Blankets can also provide extra warmth in the cage or security to infant primates.

Items to Manipulate.

a) Toys

b) Forage

Horse Enrichment

Feeding toys

Fishing

Social Environment

Specific.- Size and composition of the group (wildlife as a model)

Co specifics.-

Different species together (zoos)

Diet

1.- Kind.a) Novelty (rarely)b) Variety c) Reward

2.- Way to feed.a) Frequencyb) Presentation

1) Hide2) Entire piece3) Dispersed 4) Life prey5) Process time

Artificial turfLab

• The particulate food can be spread over a substrate inside the cage, such as the artificial turf pictured here, or over a substrate attached to the outside of the cage, such as the artificial fleece shown here.

• This strategy has proven particularly effective for macaques and other species with fine digital control. Notice the look of concentration on this monkey's face as she selects the particulate matter to eat.

PVC tubes w/peanutLab

• Increasing the search time for food can also be accomplished by hiding items or creating food puzzles. Here, a single peanut was hidden by wedging it between two lengths of flexible PVC tubing. These puzzles take many forms, and are often custom designed by facility personnel

Live prey

Natural foraging

• In the wild, large amounts of time everyday are spent in foraging for food; processing it, for example, breaking the hull from a nut or stripping skin from a fruit; and consuming the food. This can be simulated by providing natural, unprocessed foods

Foraging in the laboratory

• In a confined environment, food can be spread out to simulate this natural foraging activity. For example, sunflower seeds, raisins, and other small food items have been scattered among wood chips for the rhesus monkeys seen here

USE OF FODDER AND NON-TOXIC PLANTS AS

ENRICHMENT

Make a list of

no-toxic available in your area

Sugar cane and bamboo

Banana and berries

Bamboo

SensesLab

• Non-social visual and auditory stimuli, such as ability to watch a television screen or listen to a radio, can further add to the complexity of the room environment. Individually housed chimpanzees given the opportunity to watch live-action video of socially housed chimpanzees show great interest in the activities of the animals on the monitor, as shown here.

Cats love videos

Senses• Hearing

tapes with vocalizations, music, etc.

Senses

• SmellEssences

Feces from other species

Species

Taste

• Variety

• Novelty

• Seasonal

Taste• Seasonal changes

Tactile

• Texture

• Items to manipulate

• Novelties

Occupy Enrichment

• Learning– Training

– Resolving puzzles

Kennel enrichment for dogs

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM2ld3_o0FM

Internet sites

• www.enrichment.org

• www.enrich.org/aazk

• www.aza.org

• www.asp.org

• www.abwak.co.uk

• www.asab.org

• www.azh.org

2.-Developing ideas

 

• How can we change the exhibits or cages in the way we look if the animals really experienced similar situations in their wild?

• What we want to observe as a result of enrichment?

3.- Changes

• Routinely make changes in enriching the environment of the animals

4.- Evaluation.

 

• Make a assessment and observe for any change on the animal behavior, make an evaluation.

• After conducting the above points decide which one is the follow step.

Enriquecimiento Ambiental Como Material y Recurso Educativo en un Zoológico

LION ENRICHMENT- “STRIPEY THE FRANKEN-ZEBRA” CAMP ZOOFARI 2000

• http://www.oregonzoo.org/VideoArchive/Enrichment.htm