October 7, 2024
December 12, 2024
Animals need psychological, physical and sensory stimulation to live happy and healthy lives. When an animal lives in the wild, it's constantly using it's physical body and it's brain to keep itself alive and engaged. Burrowing, hunting, nesting, playing with littermates, and sometimes playing in the natural world (Google: otters playing).When animals are not in the natural world- in sanctuary or rehabilitative and medical care, they can grow bored, angry, stressed and sometimes even self harm.
Enrichment is tools and activities we can make for the animals to make sure they their physical, emotional and psychological wellfare being is taken care of.
Enclosure design is as important as the manual enrichment devices, tools, games and other stimulating activities. Natural flora, access to water, routine cleaning, socialization with other individuals, and occupational games with rewards; all help animals in an unnatural environment feel as close to nature as possible.
In Thailand, every day we spend the afternoon making different enrichment for the elephants who live in sanctuary. From buring watermelons so they have to use their sense of smell, to making rafts with bananas so they problem solve on how to get treats from their ponds. In Guatemala we often make banana leaf origami stars with pieces of mango in them so the parrots have to use their beaks and feet while engaging their minds. In Malawi, fire hoses have been cut and sewed along one edge, straw and peanuts are stuffed into the other end and monkeys have to practice dexterity if they want an afternoon snack.
Enrichment isn't just a fun activity for humans to think up, it's a deeply important part of animal husbandry, it's a way we can make sure the animals are having the best quality of life during their stay with us.
tl;dr: Environmental enrichment is a term used to describe changing a captive animal’s environment in a way that improves the animal’s quality of life.
