Tag Archives: zoos

Animal Enrichment in Zoos

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Environmental enrichment improves or enhances zoo environments for animals, stimulating them to investigate and interact with their surroundings. Zookeepers enrich animal environments by making changes to structures in their enclosures, presenting novel objects and smells for them to investigate and explore, and by changing how they present food to them. Doing all of these things alleviates boredom by giving animals more choice of activity. It encourages them to forage, hunt and handle their food in ways that are natural to them in the wild.  The traditional method of feeding zoo animals out of a feed pan does little to stimulate complex feeding behaviors.  Enrichment keeps zoo animals active and interested in their environment.

Find out more about Animal Enrichment at the Honolulu Zoo site, Animal Enrichment and Zoos Victoria.