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6

Environmental Enrichment

The Creation of Opportunities for Informal Learning
Robert John Young, Cristiano Schetini de Azevedo, and Cynthia Fernandes Cipreste

6.1 Introduction stereotypic animal behaviour (e.g. stereotypic
route pacing by captive carnivores) (Swaisgood
The world of all captive animals should be and Shepherdson 2005; Kagan and Veasey
filled with formal and informal opportuni- 2010). The expression of such abnormal
ties to learn new associations and contin- behaviour is widely regarded as an indicator of
gencies; this is how their wild environment suboptimal animal welfare (Mason and
functions and allows animals to operate on it Latham 2004; Sarrafchi and Blokhuis 2013;
through behavioural expression. It is this Schork and Young 2014).
very behavioural expression that can be an Studies have shown that even in such bar-
important factor affecting animal well‐ ren and unvarying environments operant
being. In this chapter we will focus on the conditioning, for example, to perform ‘tricks’
informal learning opportunities that arise for a show can alleviate the expression of
from environmental enrichment and what abnormal behaviour (Bloomsmith et al. 2007;
their consequences are for the animal. Coleman and Maier 2010). It has been argued
An animal in a new enclosure has much to by many animal trainers that this is because
learn. What does the keeper’s uniform look training is in itself an enriching activity (Melfi
like? How does my keeper smell and what 2013; Westlund 2014), and that animals may
does their voice sound like? What are the prefer to engage in trained behaviours than
signs that I am about to be fed? Are there any to use environmental enrichment (Dorey
sounds that predict the arrival of food? et al. 2015); this is a debatable point and one
Which is the quickest way to the outdoor that we will not address in this chapter.
section of the enclosure? Where is the best Instead, our interest will focus on informal
place to hide if I do not want to see the pub- learning opportunities, which arise from the
lic? However, after a few weeks the animal most commonly applied method to improve
has learned all the daily contingencies and animal welfare in captivity: environmental
learning opportunities may rapidly disap- enrichment.
pear. The animal may no longer be required Environmental enrichment typically involves
to exercise its mind and memory. the addition of novel stimuli to a captive ani-
In barren environments with unvarying hus- mal’s environment in an attempt to improve ani-
bandry routines captive animals have little or mal welfare (Shepherdson 2003; Young 2003;
no opportunities to learn new things whether Azevedo et al. 2007); for example, the provision
through formal or informal means. One well‐ of toys to an enclosure. To be effective in the
known consequence of this situation is the long‐term the provision of environmental
performance of abnormal behaviour such as enrichment needs to be a dynamic and goal‐

Zoo Animal Learning and Training, First Edition. Edited by Vicky A. Melfi, Nicole R. Dorey, and Samantha J. Ward.
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2020 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.