|
|
|
|
Choomba,
G.g. gorilla, with mirror
Zoo Atlanta
(photo by Jodi Carrigan)
Food
puzzles can be an
effective way to encourage
natural foraging behavior
in captivity. Learn more
about the gorilla diet.
Julia,
G.g. gorilla,
explores puzzle feeder at Calgary Zoo
(photo by Garth Irvine)
Mara,
G.g. gorilla,
with ice block on rope
Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
(photo by Ron Evans)
Barney
with woodwool
G.g. gorilla, Sedgwick County Zoo
(photo © Sedgwick County Zoo)
Kwanza,
G.g. gorilla, with PVC feeder
Riverbanks Zoological Park
(photo by Roby Elsner)
Artificial
"termite mound"
Lincoln Park Zoo
(© Lincoln Park Zoo/Steve Ross)
|
|
Creating better captive environments
|
|
|
Environmental
enrichment is a husbandry principle that seeks to enhance animal
care by providing stimuli that encourage natural
behavior and promote psychological well-being. Through the
use of environmental enrichment, the concepts of variability,
choice, and environmental control are maximized within great
ape facilities. Environmental enrichment for gorillas covers
a wide variety of topics, which can be broken down into two
broad categories: social (relationships with other gorillas,
relationships with caretakers) and physical (living space, diet,
browse, substrate, and manipulable, nonfood objects). Examples
of social enrichment include housing with other gorillas and
providing opportunities for interaction with keepers. Examples
of physical enrichment include novel presentation of food items,
variation in living spaces, and provision of objects for play
or interaction.
|
Monifa,
G.g. gorilla
San
Francisco Zoo
(photo by Rick Murphy) |
Enrichment
Day, Zoo Atlanta
(photo by Jodi Carrigan)
|
|
Environmental
enrichment is truly effective when it increases the choices
available for individuals and includes diversity and change.
The amount of control that an individual animal is able to
exercise over its environment, both social and physical, is
directly proportional to the number of behavioral choices
that it can utilize within its environment. Individuals that
possess a sense of control based on positive, species-typical
activities are more behaviorally competent than those that
do not. In a social setting, enrichment is a powerful force
to give each member of a group the maximum amount of choice,
and therefore control, possible. Appropriate enrichment techniques
can serve as the social catalyst that promotes positive and
constructive interactions among individuals.
|
Keeper
Garth Irvine prepares enrichment items in
an indoor enclosure at Calgary Zoo
Looking
for Enrichment Suppliers?
Check out these websites:
|
Enrichment
may consist of novel food items.
Kwame and Ktembe, G.g. gorilla,
Smithsonian National Zoological Park
(photo by Jessie Cohen)
Muke,
G.g. gorilla, Utah's Hogle Zoo
(photo by Jameson Weston)
Chewie,
G.g. gorilla, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
(photo by Ron Evans)
|
rmati
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
