Enrichment part.1

An important aspect of looking after the cats at WHF is the inclusion of enrichment, in an attempt to bring out the cats natural behaviour. Enrichment can be in many forms, and varies between species and individuals, but can be commonly placed into the five categories (Hosey, 2009).

Target training (cognitive)

1. Food based; creating interesting and challenging methods of presenting the food to the animal, often in such a way to encourage investigation, manipulation and also to make them work for food as they would in in-situ.
2. Sensory; stimulating the animals’ senses: visual, olfactory, auditory, tactile and taste. This can include the use of herbs and spices, other animals’ bedding/hair, recorded sounds, videos, textured toys etc. 
3. Structural; enhancing the environment by providing opportunities to express natural behaviour such as climbing, swimming, jumping etc. This can be through the use of pools, swings, risen platforms and beams. 
4. Social; particularly important for animals that naturally live in groups, such as lions. This gives them the opportunity for interaction and provides the chance to express a larger range of natural behaviours, such as allo-grooming.
5. Cognitive; offering animals items such as puzzle toys that can be manipulated, promoting exploratory and investigatory behaviour. This type of enrichment also includes training, which can also then be used as a veterinary/husbandry aid.  
   

Food lures (food based and sensory)

 
Over the next few weeks I shall be looking at each type of enrichment in more detail, and showing examples of how we use such enrichment at WHF. Obviously the types of enrichment available are quite limited given that there are only cats on site, however the range of different enrichment items is quite vast. 

Scented plants (sensory and structural)

 Hosey, G. et al, (2009). Zoo Animals: Behaviour, management and welfare. Oxford University Press.