Assessing success of enrichment Flashcards

Question

What is effective enrichment?

Answer 1

* must be tailored to suit each individual animal * Sometimes only the dominant individual(s) access enrichment * Should not be predictable (e.g. fixed schedules of reinforcement) * Must be safe for animal(e.g. not a choking hazard) * Must be safe for zoo workers and visitors * Cost effective & easy to clean, fill with food * part of an holistic approach to welfare and wellbeing

Answer 2

Social Cognitive Physical habitat Sensory Food

Answer 3

* most widely used method of enrichment * animals need food to survive & more likely to interact * aim is to prolong feeding times * easiest way- dividing daily diet into 3 or 4 feeds * leave fruit & vegetables whole & throw them onto roof so animals have to pull the food through mesh * cut food pieces very small or use nuts & seeds & scatter through enclosure so animals forage through substrate (scatter feed) * hide food in boxes or paper sacks & hang them from pulley systems & wires or trees * problem-solving task with food as reinforcer

Answer 4

* includes novel objects that occupy an animal’s time * Boomer balls, Kong toys, tyres, cardboard tubes & fire hoses * provides & enhances mental stimulation * can use puzzle feeders where food is hidden in different ways & inside different objects * animals use problem-solving skills to access food

Answer 5

* can use 5 senses: sight, sound, touch, smell & taste * most common is olfactory enrichment (sense of smell) * herbs & spices, perfume & deodorant, catnip or even toothpaste or mouthwash can be dotted around exhibit * usually induces extra scent marking from animals reaffirming their territory boundaries

Answer 6

* house animals of different species with others that they could encounter in the wild (mixed-species exhibits) * increased flock size for flamingos (can use mirrors to do this)

Answer 7

* important role in animal welfare by meeting physical requirements & providing a positive environment * adapt & utilise physical space for enrichment * hide food within spaces in enclosures, incorporate more objects to encourage natural behaviours, & develop and enhance space by providing mental stimulation * ‘furniture’ in enclosure * Usable space/microclimates (temperature) * Visual barriers * Expensive to rebuilt enclosures

Answer 8

NEED SYSTEMATIC COLLECTION OF BEHAVIOURAL DATA * Quantitative behavioural measurements provide evidence of behavioural changes * Report findings including failures! Reversal design: A1BA2B research design (experiment) * A1 = Baseline 1 (record behaviour) * B = Treatment (introduce enrichment & record behaviour) * A2 = Baseline 2 (remove enrichment & record behaviour) * B = Treatment (reintroduce enrichment & record behaviour) Sometimes not ethical to remove treatment.

Answer 9

(1) What is the FORM of the behavior? * pacing is less severe than head-twisting * self-directed behaviours (e.g. self-harm) are more severe than behaviours directed at the environment (e.g. destroying part of enclosure) (2) What % OF THE DAY is spent engaged in the behavior? * If more than 10% of animal’s day is spent engaged in ‘abnormal’ behaviour it is considered unacceptable (3) How easily can the animal be DISTRACTED from performing the behavior? * Less severe if the animal is easily distracted from the behaviour * More severe if the animal is less aware of the surroundings (4) Is there an obvious REASON for the behavior? * pacing just before feeding at the entrance/door is less severe (i.e. anticipatory behaviour) * If there is no obvious reason, it is more severe (5) Is it really a PROBLEM? * The behavior occurs instead of ‘normal’ behavior * There is reduced behavioural diversity

Answer 10

These provide a guide to ‘normal’ or ‘species-specific’ behavior & time spent engaged in behaviour

Answer 11

Describe behaviour by: * form/structure (e.g. ‘run tip of bill along primary feathers’), or consequences (e.g. ‘preen’). Operational definitions: * written definitions for every category of behaviour on a data sheet. Choosing categories: * categories should be independent of each other. All behaviours included in a particular category should be homogeneous (or the same/similar); * there may already be an ethogram to use or adapt.

Answer 12

Focal animal sampling: * common sampling rule for zoo animal studies * observe one individual for a specified length of time.

Answer 13

Instantaneous time sampling: * dividing session into short successive intervals of time (sample intervals) * at end of each sample interval (sample point) record behaviour that is occurring (beeper or timer goes off). * measure or score you obtain not a true frequency or duration * Provides a ‘snap shot’ of behaviour.

Answer 14

* Become familiar with the focal animal * Become familiar with the behaviour of the animal * Become familiar with the enclosure

Answer 15

Edwin Twitmyer tested the knee‐jerk reflexes of college students by sounding a bell half a second before hitting the patellar tendon. After repeatedly doing this, he found that the sound of the bell alone caused the knee‐jerk reflex. In 1904, Twitmyer presented his findings at the American Psychological Association meeting, where it drew no interest.