Enrichment
Enrichment is very important at Zoostralia. Enrichment helps the animals be engaged, always have something to do, be curious, and enhance natural behavior of the animal. Without enrichment at Zoostralia, the zoo would not be exciting for the animals or the visitors. There are many ways to enrich an animal. It can be introducing food, having an authentic habitat, and just giving the animals puzzles or games. Here are some ways to enrich an animal if it seems bored.
If the animal seems bored, zookeepers could do the following:
• Find new ways to introduce food to the animal.
◦Brainstorm ideas about how to feed the animal.
◦Use simple items to introduce food.
▪A box can be a very hard, new, and exciting way for an animal to get food.
◦Don’t give the animal the same food all the time.
▪Give the animal a variety of food, but, the food should still be something the animal will eat.
◦If the animal is carnivorous, put live prey in the cage.
◦If the animal is a herbivore spread seeds, leaves, or anything it eats around the enclosure. You can also spread food around the enclosure for carnivores.
•Have different levels and challenges in the habitat.
◦There can be trees, rocks, or hills on a flat habitat.
◦You could put in a stream for a dry land animal, or land for an animal that lives mostly in water.
◦Put scraps of cloth, newspaper, of anything that can be used for nesting in a nesting animal’s habitat for the animal to make a nest.
◦Anything new and exciting can be put in an animal’s habitat for the animal’s curiosity.
▪Again, common items like, crates, toilet paper, or fabric can be very exciting and new for an animal.
If the animal seems bored, zookeepers could do the following:
• Find new ways to introduce food to the animal.
◦Brainstorm ideas about how to feed the animal.
◦Use simple items to introduce food.
▪A box can be a very hard, new, and exciting way for an animal to get food.
◦Don’t give the animal the same food all the time.
▪Give the animal a variety of food, but, the food should still be something the animal will eat.
◦If the animal is carnivorous, put live prey in the cage.
◦If the animal is a herbivore spread seeds, leaves, or anything it eats around the enclosure. You can also spread food around the enclosure for carnivores.
•Have different levels and challenges in the habitat.
◦There can be trees, rocks, or hills on a flat habitat.
◦You could put in a stream for a dry land animal, or land for an animal that lives mostly in water.
◦Put scraps of cloth, newspaper, of anything that can be used for nesting in a nesting animal’s habitat for the animal to make a nest.
◦Anything new and exciting can be put in an animal’s habitat for the animal’s curiosity.
▪Again, common items like, crates, toilet paper, or fabric can be very exciting and new for an animal.