Upon opening the visitor center early one morning, I heard this strange noise. As I investigated, it was “Squints” the chinchilla, one of the zoo’s ambassador animals digging through a bundle of shredded paper that was inside of a repurposed 5-gallon water-cooler bottle. Chinchillas are considered crepuscular, which means they are most active at dusk and dawn. His zookeeper may never see Squints, or other crepuscular or nocturnal animals utilize the enrichment they provide until they see how its changed when they return.

Enrichment of some type is provided to every animal every day with some species like primates, receiving multiple enrichment opportunities throughout the day. Enrichment for animals kept in captivity is not just good animal management, in many species it is mandated.

Enrichment is a broad term to basically describe the use of change in an animal’s environment that will elicit natural behaviors both physically and mentally. It can be as simple as spraying perfume or scattering spices within a habitat that is unfamiliar to the animal. For some carnivores we may scatter feces from prey animals in their enclosure to create a heightened sense that there are hunting opportunities. An animal’s normal diet is often scattered or even hidden to make them hunt for it as opposed to sitting down in front of a pan and enjoying a buffet and having to put forth no effort. Enrichment is designed to keep the animals both mentally and physically fit by engaging them to explore and adapt.

Enrichment may sometimes seem like play, but play is a big part of many animals’ lives both in human care as well as the wild. Think about your pets and the billion-dollar industries that have been created to provide humans with tools to engage their pets. Cat toys, dog toys, bird toys and toys for nearly any animal you can think of are available somewhere and they are all designed to help humans stimulate and enrich the lives of those animals they care about.

The Roosevelt Zoo staff is working to take enrichment for animals in their care to the next level, thanks to a grant from the ACE for Wildlife Network. With help from consultants, staff will be starting with the goals they are trying to achieve and then work through developing enrichment based on an animal’s natural history. Working in teams, staff is developing enrichment ideas for four separate species. In June, the zoo will combine these enrichment opportunities with their keeper talks to educate guests and conduct surveys to determine how they feel about the animals, and the care they are provided. The surveys will be short and easy to access on a smart phone by scanning the QR code at the presentation.

This will be a first for the staff, but it can’t be successful without participation from our guests. If you are here on days that the keeper talks are occurring, please take the time to listen to the staff members and if asked, make time to participate in the survey. It’s true our priority is the animals, but we also know that if not for the support we receive from our guests, there would be no animals.