Enrichment is a term used to describe various activities that animal keepers utilize to encourage natural behavior from the animals under their care.
These activities increase the animals’ physical and mental activity levels, and stimulate natural behaviors which result in a healthier, “happier” animal.
Items such as piñatas, puzzle feeders, toys and novelty foods are given to the animals on a random schedule to ensure interest or reaction to the stimuli.
Keepers provide enrichment from five different categories to stimulate all of the animals’ senses and encourage a wide range of natural behaviors. Click here to learn about types of enrichment.
We’re not the only Zoo that uses Enrichment! Here are some places that give us support and ideas for enrichment.