Enrichment at the Tembo Trails

Name: Amber Pitsenberger

Class Year: 2019

Hometown: Danville, OH

Internship: Animal Behavior and Large Mammal

Location: Toledo, OH

In my last post, I talked about how I spend my mornings at the Toledo Zoo. For this post, I am going to explain how I spend my afternoons. In the afternoons, I return to the Museum of Science and work with the Animal Behavior Department. One of the things I do is make enrichment for all of the animals that I work with in the mornings. I explained in my last post that enrichment is any item or activity used to enhance the quality of life of the animals living at the Toledo Zoo. Enrichment is used to help keep the animals fit and encourages natural behaviors.  When designing enrichment, we look at the animal's natural history. An animal's natural history provides information the animal's diet, social structure, behavior, and habitat in the wild. This makes it easier to create enrichment items that will encourage natural behaviors and allows the public to see how an animal in the wild might spend it's time. 

Holding the hammock that I made for the meerkats.

I mentioned in my last post that sloth bears eat insects like ants and termites. This means that they use their long claws to dig up the insects. To encourage this behavior, some of the enrichment items given to Kara, the sloth bear, are pieces of wood with food stuck inside holes that she has to work to get out with her claws and tongue. There are also large hollow logs placed inside her enclosure that allow her keepers to place parts of her diet inside. This not only encourages Kara to dig at the logs but it also encourages her to investigate her enclosure more to make sure that she has found all of her hidden treats. Making enrichment for all of the animals I work with can keep me pretty busy but it is really rewarding to watch an animal use the enrichment you made for them. Sometimes we reuse materials to make enrichment items. Recently, I made a hammock for the meerkats using PVC, grommets, and an old vinyl banner we found. We put it into their enclosure and they seemed to enjoy using it.

Meerkats using the hammock.

The behavior department also helps to educate the public about enrichment and why it is important for the animals at the zoo. In June, the zoo was celebrating one of the elephant's sixth birthday. Haley and I attended the event and stood beside a poster that had pictures of some of the enrichment that is made for the elephants at the zoo. This gave guests at the zoo a chance to see some of the enrichment items that we make. We were able to talk to the guests and explain what the behavior department does with enrichment and we had a game that the kids could play. It was a lot of fun. On Father's Day, we made signs and placed them on the enclosures of the animals that were fathers. The sign helped explain if the male of a species spends a lot of time, some time, or no time helping rear young. We then provided enrichment items to these animal dads.

Haley and me talking to zoo guests about the Animal Behavior Department.

My latest project with the behavior department is to help conduct a welfare assessment on the dingoes at the Toledo Zoo. Welfare assessments take into account physical health, mental stimulation and behavioral diversity and help the zoo understand how an animal spends its day at the zoo and what helps it to thrive. It also helps the zoo see if any changes need to be made to help increase the welfare of the animals.

That is what I do for most of my afternoons at the Toledo Zoo. I enjoy making enrichment for the animals that are on the Tembo Trail. It's hard to believe that the summer is almost over.

The tigers' keeper placed shampoo in the tiger pool to create bubbles.