Have you ever heard the word "enrichment" at a zoo?

Enrichment (environmental enrichment), simply put, is about increasing an animal's repertoire of behaviors by providing appropriate stimuli in its daily life. The term "enrichment" might sound complicated, but it doesn't require any special skills. For example, simply changing the time or place of feeding can be considered an attempt at enrichment. The important thing is to introduce changes into their daily routine and stimulate their thinking.

As a new enrichment initiative for our African Bush Elephant, Tomu (male, 13 years old), we have installed a timer-controlled automatic feeder indoors, which was provided by the elephant caretakers at Morioka City Zoo. This feeder has a tray that is fixed in place by an electromagnet, and when the set time arrives, the magnet detaches and the food placed in the tray falls out. Using this, we can feed Tomu at times other than usual even when the caretakers are not present. We place hay, hay cubes, and pellets in the tray.

I set a timer so that food would fall from the feeder between 5 and 6 a.m. During this time, Tomu has usually finished eating most of his food and is wandering around the enclosure or indoors. On the first day of setup, Tomu was spending his time in his room as usual. By chance, some food fell on Tomu's back as he was directly beneath the feeder, which startled him, and he let out a trumpet-like cry. However, once he realized it was food, he quickly calmed down and began to eat.

On the third day after setting it up, it seemed that Tomu had memorized the time when the food would be dropped, and he was seen waiting under the feeder before the set time. This defeats the purpose of enrichment, so from then on, I changed the set time every day so that Tomu could not predict it.

Even in the enclosures, we enrich the animals by providing food in creative ways, such as hiding it inside tires or in the gaps of tree stumps. When you visit the zoo, if you see something in the enclosure that wasn't there before, watching how the animals use it is one way to enjoy the experience. When you visit, try observing from that perspective as well.


[Video] Newly installed automatic pet feeder
[Tama Zoo North Garden Animal Care and Exhibition Staff, Mimatsu]

(May 20, 2022)