What kinds of toys do you like to play with? Perhaps you like a ball to kick around or clay to mold into different shapes. Animals in captivity also like to play with toys or smell new smells; we call this animal enrichment! Animals can get bored seeing the same sights from day to day, and they also do not have to spend time looking for food, shelter, and defending territories when they are housed in zoos. Enrichment allows animals’ energy to be redirected so they do not get bored or stressed.
There are several different types of enrichment. One of the most common is giving an animal a toy to play with, such as a sturdy ball, ropes to climb and swing on, logs to climb and rearrange, or a barrel to roll around. Another common enrichment is using a puzzle feeder to make obtaining food more difficult or even giving an animal a type of food they’ve never had before, such as different types of vegetables or a different type of meat, or ice cubes with treats inside. A third type of enrichment is using different scents to make animals curious. This can be bedding from another animal’s enclosure, human perfumes, and spices and can be sprayed or rubbed on a toy or on different objects in an enclosure. Some animals will rub themselves on a favorite scent!
Other types of enrichment can be as simple as adding a different plant structure, rearranging ‘furniture’, or housing animals together that get along, such as bison and elk. There are endless possibilities when coming up with fun enrichment for animals, and the keepers usually have just as much fun making it as the animals do playing with it. So if you see something like a box, a big pile of dirt or sand, or something floating in a pool of water, remember that we give animals enrichment to make sure they are having fun and using their natural instincts!
