Making Sense of Enrichment and Auntie Joy's Choice of Presents

By Dr. Joseph C.E. Barber, Research Fellow
Disney's Animal Kingdom, Orlando, FL

"Thanks for the present, Auntie Joy" you say, looking down at the green and red striped monstrosity that is your new Christmas sweater- carefully knitted after what appears to be a drunken night on the town. "Yes, I'll certainly wear it..., every chance that I get". Does that sound familiar? It is something that I am sure happens frequently to lots of people at most occasions where gifts are given. Now that the holiday season is over, you may own one or two new Christmas sweaters of your own! But what does this have to do with enrichment, you may ask. Well, giving presents to people is actually quite similar to providing enrichment to the animals in your collection. Both are enjoyable to do, but both end up being much more effective if they are part of larger process.

Let me explain. What Auntie Joy saw as a most useful and fashionable gift, you probably see as more insulation for your attic or food for the moths. In other words, what we have here is a difference of perspective. Living in New England, Auntie Joy would certainly welcome such a warm and cozy gift herself. The green and red she chose are most festive, and all the young people are wearing these types of sweaters these days (aren't they?). Living in Florida, even thinking about sweaters makes you sweaty, green and red were never your colors, and whatever it is the young people are wearing these days, it is certainly not woolen sweaters. Whenever we provide enrichment to animals, we are at risk of falling foul of the same differences in perspective. After all, if Auntie Joy can make such a heinous error of judgment for someone from her own species and family, what happens when we try to provide enrichment for a totally different species?

In order to make sure that we are talking about the same thing, let's define exactly what enrichment is. The American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) define enrichment as:

"a process for improving or enhancing animal environments and care within the context of their inhabitants' behavioral biology and natural history. It is a dynamic process in which changes to structures and husbandry practices are made with the goal of increasing behavioral choices available to animals and drawing out their species-appropriate behaviors and abilities, thus enhancing animal welfare" (AZA/ BAG, 1999).

There are several important points made within this definition, and it will be worth spending some time looking at these specific points more closely.

Firstly, enrichment is defined as a 'process'. That means that rather than saying that a Boomer Ball@ given to a lion is 'enrichment', the process of identifying a goal for the Boomer Ball (to promote species-appropriate hunting), planning when it should be given, providing it, and then evaluating its success is enrichment. In fact, within their 2003 Accreditation Standards, the AZA states that the enrichment process should be made up of the following elements: "goal setting, planning and approval process, implementation, documentation/record keeping, evaluation and subsequent program refinement". Thus, a Boomer Ball is an enrichment initiative, but, as a physical object, only makes up part of the overall enrichment process. I will talk about this process more a little later.

The second point to be made about the definition is that the enrichment process improves and enhances both "animal environments and care" by making changes to "structures and husbandry practices". In other words, enrichment does not have to be confined to physical objects (like the Boomer ball), but can also include more intangible processes, such as husbandry training, or providing different types of social opportunities, etc. This is taking enrichment at a very holistic level. In fact, anything that acts to promote species-appropriate behavior, or that provides animals with choices or control over their environment can be seen as part of the enrichment process - especially if it is something that we can control ( e.g., not a naturally occurring phenomenon that is out of our control -e.g., a squirrel running into the lion enclosure) (Mellen & MacPhee, 2001).

The third point of interest in the definition is the term "goal". Any enrichment initiative we provide the animals should have a goal associated with it, and that goal should be to promote species appropriate behavior, and provide choices or control to the animal. Providing goal-oriented enrichment makes us accountable for the type of enrichment we provide. With a goal in mind, we can ask questions such as "did the enrichment achieve its goal?", and these types of questions make up the documentation and evaluation piece referred to in the AZA Accreditation Standards. Those enrichment initiatives that achieve their goals can be considered as truly enriching. Initiatives that are never used, for example, may act to make the environment more complex, but since they do not promote species-appropriate behavior, or provide choices or control, they are not enriching.

To illustrate this point, let us suppose that you are an avid reader, and I bought you 10 books for your birthday. However, suppose that I mistakenly bought you 10 books written in Swedish. In my mind, the goal of the books is for them to be read by you. However, trying to read books written in Swedish is very hard, and you would probably give up fairly soon, or never try it in the first place - they are written in Swedish, after all. Just because you were able to read English books (which we will say means that those books achieved their goal), doesn't mean that all books are enriching regardless of what they are about or in what language they are written. Books written in Swedish certainly make the environment more complex (before there were no books, now there are 10), but they do not achieve their enrichment goal.

Now, complexity is not a bad thing in itself. In fact, after a while of not being able to read the Swedish books, you might start using the pages to make paper airplanes. If this is also a species- appropriate behavior (which we will say it is), then we may change the goal of this particular enrichment initiative (books written in Swedish) to the construction of paper airplanes, or manipulation of the pages in any way. However, if you never looked at or touched the books written in Swedish again (knowing that they are written in a foreign language, and not wanting to rip the pages out), then adding complexity to the enrichment is not enriching.

Finally, from the definition of enrichment. the whole purpose of enrichment (beyond the promoting of species-appropriate behavior, choices and control) is to ensure that animals have good welfare. Animal welfare (not to be confused with the ethical standpoint of 'animal rights') is another term that needs to be defined. Animal welfare deals with both the health of an animal and its psychological well-being. While we all have a fairly good understanding of what good health represents (absence of disease or injuries). we find it more difficult to visualize what psychological well-being looks like, especially for our less related animal cousins (e.g., fish, reptiles, amphibians. etc), For humans, psychological well-being represents our personal emotional experiences -what we think and feel. Most scientists give most animals the benefit of the doubt when it comes to being able to feel similar types of emotions (although it impossible to prove scientifically that you have the same emotions as I do, or have emotions at all, for that matter).

In terns of welfare, those 'feelings' that can lead to individuals experiencing suffering are usually the most important. Such feelings include: pain, frustration, and fear. It is likely that many of the emotions that we humans feel are (or have been) useful to our species now and in the past. For example, the development of certain emotional states, may have helped us adapt to the highly complex social environment that we now find ourselves in. The same is most likely to be true for other animals. That is, any emotional states that they can experience are likely to be linked with their evolutionary history. Since being jealous or feeling guilty are not particularly adaptive for a sloth, let's say, then it is unlikely that the sloth experiences these same emotional states as we do. Not all animals will necessarily experience the same emotions as us, and it is possible that we may not experience some emotional states that other species experience. The reason why the subject of animal welfare focuses primarily on negative emotional states that lead to suffering is that it is probably not appropriate to talk about wanting animals to be 'happy', at least not in the most simplistic sense of the word. In the wild, animals have evolved to achieve two main goals, survival and reproduction. Haying the opportunities to achieve these goals might equate to what we would call 'happiness' in animal terms.

Enrichment plays an important role in ensuring that animals experience good welfare, both in terms of health (increasing the activity levels and reducing obesity) and psychological well-being (providing opportunities for animals to perform species-appropriate behaviors, and perform these behaviors to avoid experiencing negative emotional states). All aspects of animal care affect animal welfare, and the goals of all animal care programs (veterinary care, nutrition, training, husbandry, habitat, research and enrichment) should be to enhance animal welfare.

Earlier I had mentioned the different elements (from the AZA 2003 Accreditation Standards) that made up the enrichment process. At Disney's Animal Kingdom, these different elements make up what is called the enrichment framework (see www.animalenrichment.org). Once again, those elements are: setting goals, planning, implementing, documenting, evaluating, and readjusting. Since the first letters of these elements spell SPIDER, I will refer to this as the SPIDER model. As I stated earlier, the actual act of providing enrichment initiatives to the animals makes up only one part of the SPIDER- implementation. I also said that for enrichment to be effective, it needs to be considered as a process, and that all elements of this process are necessary.

Let us consider the SPIDER model in relation to Auntie Joy's Christmas present, and see just how Auntie Joy used SPIDER to help her come up with her present for you. The first step is the setting goals process. Now, Auntie Joy is no nitwit. She appreciates that it is hot in Florida for most of the year, but she also knows that the air-conditioning in most buildings makes the environment intolerably cold. Knowing that you would not buy yourself such a useful item of clothing, Auntie Joy decided to make you one herself. The goal of the sweater (the enrichment initiative) is to provide you with the opportunity to regulate your temperature (akin to providing shade for animals during the summer months). In terms of an animal example, the setting goals process may identify that the natural history of a certain species of birds includes nesting in riverbanks. The natural history of any species provides us with a guide to help us provide the most appropriate environment for captive species. In order to promote the species-appropriate nesting behavior in our bird, one possibility might be to construct an artificial riverbank. However, there may be many different ways to achieve the same goal -nesting.

After identifying a behavioral goal, Auntie Joy moves on to the planning stage. In terms of enrichment for animals, the planning stage should involve some sort of approval process, and then the budgeting of time and money to get the enrichment initiative made. Following this process, Auntie Joy phones your mother up before Christmas to ask if you have any allergic reactions to wool, and to find out what your favorite colors are. Your mother informs Auntie Joy that you have never had trouble with wool before, and (based on the toy cars you used to play with when you were five) says that your favorite colors are red and green. Based on this information (which in animal terms might be approval from the vets or nutritionist that an enrichment initiative would not lead to any health or safety concerns), Auntie Joy budgets for buying the wool that she needs, and schedules time in her calendar for knitting every Monday afternoon at two o'clock.

As is often the case, the fun part of the enrichment process the implementing.  After weeks of knitting, Auntie Joy wraps up the sweater in shiny paper, making sure to tape down any loose edges ( ensuring that the unwrapping process is extended for as long as possible), and pops the present into the mail. Come Christmas morning, you feverously unwrap Auntie Joy's present only to find the woolen monstrosity lying in wait inside.

Auntie Joy has made it through the S-P-I part of the SPIDER. Most institutions will have a formalized process for the S-P-I part of the enrichment process. However, when it comes to D-E-R (documenting, evaluating and readjusting), often nothing is attempted, or what does occur happens rather haphazardly. In reality, animal care staff often go through the evaluation and readjustment part of the enrichment process in their heads, very quickly. This is what scientists often refer to as the 'art' of animal care. However, a more systematic approach to D-E-R can make a significant difference to the effectiveness of your enrichment program. Auntie Joy will provide an example of this.

Merely providing the enrichment initiative to the animals does not tell you whether or not that enrichment initiative was effective. While Auntie Joy can phone you up and ask you if you like it and will wear it (which you dutifully say that you do and you will), the same is not possible for animals and their enrichment, although an animal's behavior may provide a more honest representation of whether or not the enrichment was effective.

This year, Auntie Joy decides not to take your word for it (that you like it and will wear it everyday), and attempts to find out whether or not her 'enrichment' was effective. When it comes to enrichment, the' did it work?' question is often too big to be able to answer effectively. There are many elements that contribute to whether an enrichment initiative worked or not. For example, did any of the animals use it, did they all use it, did they use it for its intended goal, how often did they use it, did it increase aggression within the group, etc. ? Since some enrichment initiatives will be used by some animals some of the time, it is very difficult to say absolutely that any enrichment initiative worked or did not work. It is much more useful to be able to say that it did work because these animals used it in this way, at these certain times. Thus, the key to any type of enrichment documentation is to come up with some specific questions to begin with. What is it that you want to know about the way that animals interact with their enrichment? Are you interested in whether or not certain animals use the enrichment, or how often they use it? Which questions you ask will often depend on the specific types of enrichment, animals and situations that you are dealing with.

Auntie Joy follows these instructions, and creates a list of questions that she has about the sweater. She wants to know if you wear it, how often you wear it, where you wear it, and whether it keeps you warm when you do wear it. Coming up with these questions before collecting any information is vitally important, as the question you have determines what method of documentation you need to use to answer it. Not all methods of documentation can answer all questions. For example, if Auntie Joy collects information on where you wear the sweater she might also have enough information to answer the question 'do you wear it?' and 'how often do you wear it?', but has no information regarding whether it keeps you warm. Also, some questions are more straightforward than others. If Auntie Joy was just interested in whether you wore it at all (regardless of how many times you wore it in the future), then her documentation process might end as soon as she saw you wearing it once (e.g., at Christmas dinner). This method of documentation answers her specific question, but does not provide her with information about how often you wear it, where you wear it, or whether it kept you warm, and she may not be interested in finding this information out. Ultimately, the documentation process allows you to find out answers to questions you have about the way your animals interact with enrichment. This should provide you with the ability to provide the most effective enrichment in the future -the evaluation and readjustment process.

Let's say that Auntie Joy is interested in finding out how often you wear the sweater. To do so she might use a combination of direct and indirect observations. Indirectly, she might pay you a visit one day, snoop around your closet to see where the sweater was, and document its location. If it is at the back of the top shelf (or in the attic acting as insulation), then it is likely that the sweater is mostly unused. Auntie Joy may also ask your friends and family whether they have seen you wear her sweater, and record their comments. More direct observations may involve her coming to visit you at work (where the air-conditioning is super-cold) to see if you are using her sweater to regulate your temperature.  She might take a photo of what you are wearing each time she visits, or simply record her observations on a calendar ( e.g., 'Monday 16th January -subject was wearing a blue shirt with a black vest"). Through a combination of measures (and trying to work out what is the best form of documentation to use is often the trickiest part -many questions are very straightforward to answer, but for others you may need the assistance of someone with an animal behavior research background, perhaps from a local university) Auntie Joy eventually has enough information to be able to perform some evaluation -taking that information and looking to see if there are trends and patterns over time. In other words, the evaluation process provides you with the answer to your question. Looking at all the information that she has collected, Auntie Joy is now in the position to say that, based on her findings, you have rarely, if ever, worn her sweater since Christmas dinner.

For your animals, it may be that some individuals never use certain enrichment initiatives, while other use them all the time. The documentation and evaluation process can help to identify which individuals use what, and how -or answer many of the specific questions that you may have. What happens in the readjustment part of the process depends on what you found out through your documentation and evaluation process. Knowing that you never wear her sweater, Auntie Joy may choose never to knit you one again. However, on one or her visits to your work place, Auntie Joy remembers seeing you wearing a black sweater. In fact, looking back at her photos and written comments, Auntie Joy sees that none of the clothes you wore were ever colored green or red (looking for trends and patterns in this way is part of the evaluation process). Using this information, Auntie Joy decides that for next Christmas you will get a smart looking black sweater, and that rather than taking your word for it that you like it, she will once again document just how effective her present was. This type of readjustment would be like trying different types of substrate given to a ground- dwelling bird for it to dust bathe in, if the original substrate did not promote dust bathing.

That is the D-E-R part of the process. When the S-P-I and the D-E-R are combined, the ultimate outcome is that you will hopefully get a better Christmas present from Auntie Joy next year, and that the animals under our care receive highly effective enrichment initiatives. In terms of the art of animal care, you do a lot of the evaluating and readjusting already. What the more systematic approach to documentation, evaluation and readjusting provides is a way to share the information that you find out, to build a solid knowledge base that others can use. Never having seen any dust bathing by your birds using one type of substrate, you may try several different substrates. One type may have promoted too much ingestion, and another may have been too dusty. Part of the documentation process involves recording this type of information so that others can see for themselves what does or does not work for those animals. You might also be able to note who ate the substrate, when that previous type was used, and whether all of the birds are using the most current substrate for dust bathing.

Based on the infom1ation that you currently collect, if your animals were moved to another institution, would you be able to provide a record of what enrichment was effective and what was not? If a new keeper joined your team, would he/she be able to study what you had tried in the past, and understand the outcomes of these trials? Hopefully, the documentation and evaluation process should ensure that this infom1ation exists in some fom1 or another (numbers, diagrams, graphs, photos, noteworthy events, etc.).

An effective enrichment process is key to ensuring that the welfare of the animals under your care is good. The enrichment process is also something that many different departments of a zoo or aquarium can become involved in, and is a great staff motivator. Whether or not Auntie Joy will ever actually use the SPIDER model to give you better presents, it is nevertheless a great way to provide excellent animal care.

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