Page 133 - Zoo Animal Learning and Training

6.4 Informal Learning–Occupational or Cognitive Enrichment 105

VetBooks.ir prevention of emergence or development of is a real cognitive challenge, but clearly this
diminishes over time as the animals learn to
abnormal behaviours (Coulon et al. 2014).
Of course, the use of electronic or any
other enrichment devices should be planned, perform the task with increasing efficiency.
However, it should be noted that some of
taking into account the animal, not the these tasks may require that the animal prac-
human perspective; especially those aiming tices and improves over long periods of time.
at visual or auditory interactions. Animals, For example, it may take wild capuchin mon-
depending on the species, see and hear dif- keys months or even years to fully develop
ferently than humans (Jacobs 2009). Canids, the skill of opening a nut using a rock as a
as an example, do not have the capacity to see hammer (Ottoni and Izar 2008). For a review
all colours, but old world primates can on the use and benefits of cognitive environ-
(Jacobs et al. 1993; Vorobyev 2004; Jacobs mental enrichment, see Clark (2017).
2008). Many birds and reptiles are able to see Where cognitive activities occupy the
in the UV spectrum, thus, food enrichment minds of captive animals, thereby creating
with items reflecting UV could be arranged many informal learning opportunities, the
(Honkavaara et al. 2002). In the same way, learning opportunities available from occu-
auditory environmental enrichment could pational activities such as exercise seem to be
focus on the whole audible spectrum of the much more limited.
animal, and not only be based on the human Occupational activities such as animals
hearing spectrum (Wells 2009). More on performing exercise can be strongly moti-
sensory enrichment can be read below, in the vated through the use of food rewards.
following sections of this chapter. Fonseca et al. (2014) showed that all tested
rats would run several kilometres per day on
a running wheel if the distance ran was con-
6.4 Informal Learning tingent on the receipt of food rewards.
Opportunities During Unfortunately, the learning component in
these processes is limited to a short time
Occupational or Cognitive frame and the animals behaved as if they are
Enrichment inside a Skinner box. The responses appear
to become automatic unless variable ratios or
The very idea of cognitive enrichment is to variable interval schedules are used for deliv-
challenge the brains of animals to solve a ering the food rewards (Fonseca et al. 2014).
puzzle and this clearly will involve learning In general, the problem with occupational
opportunities. Typically, animals are moti- exercise is that animals will not perform it
vated to solve puzzles in order to obtain food without being frequently rewarded with food
rewards (Cheyne 2010). One of the earliest and thus whilst even wild animals have been
examples of this was the use of artificial ter- shown to use a running wheel, they will not
mite mounds with captive chimpanzees, use it for prolonged periods of time (Meijer
which had to learn to dip for honey or and Robbers 2014).
yoghurt rather than termites (Nash 1982). One other problem of occupational exer-
Zoos typically provided chimpanzees with cise in terms of enrichment is that it tends to
branches that needed to be trimmed and be unvarying; the animal learns to express
shaped for purpose and the chimpanzees locomotory behaviour at a constant speed. In
learned to do this through trial‐and‐error or the wild, animals vary their locomotion
by watching other more experienced indi- according to terrain and the reason they are
viduals dip for food rewards (although the moving from point A to point B. Studies on
imitation of others in tool use is controversial physical conditioning in humans have shown
for chimpanzees, Buttelmann et al. 2013). that exercise, which is varying in its intensity,
The first time animals see such a puzzle there is more mentally stimulating and produces