Page 134 - Zoo Animal Learning and Training

106 6 Environmental Enrichment: Opportunities for Learning

VetBooks.ir higher levels of fitness (Taylor et al. 1985; arboreal species’ enclosure a few times a year
creates learning opportunities as the individ-
Swan and Hyland 2012). These concepts
have yet to be applied to occupational exer-
from A to B.
cise as environmental enrichment, but it uals must learn new routes to be able to move
seems possible that providing flexibility Animals that have been previously housed
would make such an activity much more in unvarying enclosures for long periods of
appealing to animals due to their need to pay time will require that changes made to the
greater attention to what is happening (e.g. a layout of their enclosure are initially made at
sudden increase or decrease in the speed of a a slow pace and infrequently, to avoid stress-
running wheel). ing the animals (Young 2003). Once animals
have learnt that change in their enclosure can
occur, then modifications to their enclosure
6.5 Informal Learning can start to be made much more frequently.
It is important that animals learn how to
Opportunities During Physical cope with change, especially since change
Enrichment will be part of their lives in a zoo (e.g. being
moved as part of a breeding exchange).
The use of physical environmental enrichment A new concept in zoo design developed by
such as the use of furniture and enclosure Jon Coe is the use of tunnels connected to
design to meet the needs of animals in captiv- different enclosures in a train track like sys-
ity is the one most often favoured by animal tem at the Philadelphia Zoo. This has taken
keeping institutions such as zoos (Young the concept of changing environment and
2003). The reason for this is that they, incor- learning to move around to a new level (Coe
rectly, believe that this is a one‐off cost; for 2012). In this concept, all zoo animals have
example, you build your penguin enclosure the opportunity to move around a zoo, which
with a large pool and then you do not need to could be to a different enclosure or to a view-
worry anymore about their enrichment. ing point. If all the hundred or so enclosures
Alternatively, you create an extensive three were connected together through this system
dimensional climbing structure for your leop- (which of course would not always be appro-
ards and again the problem of dealing with the priate as a small primate enclosure would
animal’s welfare is solved. There are two mis- probably be unsuitable for a large carnivore)
takes here: (i) no single piece of enrichment then animals would be constantly learning
will ever be sufficient to guarantee the welfare new routes around their zoo and the layout,
of a captive animal; and (ii) environmental not to mention the smells, of their new enclo-
enrichment needs to be dynamic. sure. Thus, one of the most static parts of a
In the wild, an animal’s physical environ- zoo environment could, through this system,
ment is varied and is subject to frequent become one of the most dynamic parts of the
changes; for example, the margays living in zoo environment and create constant learn-
the Atlantic forest of Brazil are highly arbo- ing opportunities for the animals.
real cats who must learn how to navigate
around their three dimensional home range.
In the wet season many branches are blown
off trees by storms and some trees within 6.6 Informal Learning
their territory will fall down. Thus, margays Opportunities During
need to update their spatial map of their Sensory Enrichment
home range at least several times a year. In
the zoo environment if the climbing struc- The captive environment like its wild equiva-
ture is never modified then this updating lent can be full of novel sensory stimuli. In
never occurs. Thus, simple rebranching of an captivity, new sensory experiences, in terms