Enriching

PhotobyTonyBates

Spring2016

Enriching ZSL’sForumforEnrichment&Training

RotiIslandSnake-neckedTurtleEnrichmentByZoeBryantZSLLondonZoo

Our seven Roti Island snake necked turtles (Chelodina mccordi)haveahighlyinquisitivenatureandareextremelyfoodorientated.

Allbuttwoindividualsarehousedseparately,andtheircaptivediet

consistsofblackandbrowncrickets,dubiaroaches,locusts,pinkie

mice, lobworms, dendrobaena worms, fresh water fish, and

bloodworm,avarietyofwhich isprovided3timesaweek.When

fooditemsareplacedinthewatertheyareimmediatelyfoundand

consumed, with feeding events lasting on average between 2-5

minutes. Inorder to provide this specieswith amore stimulating

environment,toencouragenaturalforagingbehaviourandinorder

toextendthetimespentfeeding,afilmcanisterfoodenrichment

devicewascreated.

Clear plastic film canisters were acquired,

andholesofadiameterof6mmweredrilled

in the bottom and in the sides of each

canister. These were then filled with

bloodworm and water and the lids were

replaced.

When a film canister was placed in each

enclosure water body, the canister would

float on the surface of the water, and each

animalwould respond immediatelybybiting

atitandnudgingitaround.Asthiswasdone,

bloodwormwouldsporadicallyfalloutoftheholesinthecanister,

allowing the animal to eat them. As the animal would need to

nudge the canister in the water a few times in order for all the

bloodwormstofallout,thetimetheanimalswouldspendfeeding

wouldlastmuchlonger,averaginguptoanhour.

Initially, a hole of 3mm was drilled just in the bottom of each

canisterbutitwasfoundthatthisholewasnotbigenoughforthe

bloodworm to escape effectively and as the canisterwas pushed

aroundbytheanimals,thecanisterwouldfloatonitsside,andthe

bloodworm would congregate in the middle of the device. The

additionoftwoholesoneitherside,allatlargerdiameters,proved

farmoreeffective.

Overall,thisprovedtobeasuccessfulmethodoffoodenrichment

withthisspecies,andcouldbeappliedtootherspeciesofaquatic

turtle.

AHugeThankYou!ByJaneStorr

ZSLWhipsnadeZoo

Onthe21stofJuly2015,20peoplegaveuptheireveningstohelp

install new enrichments in our chimp paddock at Whipsnade.

KeepersandPresentersjoinedin,fromseasonalstafftoacurator.I

would liketothankeverybodywhotookpart,as itcouldnothave

happenedwithoutyou!Togetherweputup4swingingplatforms,

spliced up some new ropework, built a sand pit and ate 8 large

pizzas.

Theplatforms aremade from giant cable reelsand the sandpit is

madefromreclaimedwood(oldfenceposts).

The event was organised through Whipsnade’s Behavioural

Management Committee. The whole evening was a massive

success, andwe gotmore done thanwe ever thoughtwe could.

Thechimpshavebeenenjoyingtheimprovementstotheirpaddock

eversince.Theyparticularly lovethesandpit,whichweburynuts

andseedsinbeforethechimpsgetgivenaccesstothepaddockin

themorning.

Somedays theyare still foraging through it in theafternoon.The

swinging platforms and ropework give the chimpsmoreways to

use their three dimensional space, so a huge thank you to

everybodywhomadethispossible!

THISMONTH’sISSUE

p.2DwarfGoatWalks

p.3MazuriEnrichment&BushbabiesPuzzleFeeders

p.4EnrichmentforbirdsintheBlackburnPavilion

NigerianDwarfGoatWalkByJessicaJonesZSLLondonZoo

At ZSL London Zoo,we have four AfricanPygmyGoats and four

NigerianDwarfgoatsthatliveinourtouchpaddock,whichisthe

area inAnimalAdventurewherethepublicareable toenterthe

enclosure and have a free contact experiencewith live animals.

Althoughthegoatshaveaveryenrichedlifebybeingabletomeet

the public and have new experiences nearly every day, we still

lookforanyopportunityfortrainingandenrichment.

Three young goats were chosen to take part in the training

becausetheyarejustoverayearoldandstillgrowing,therefore,

the extra pellet theywere given could be used for training. The

othergoatsarefully-grownanddefinitelydonotrequireanyextra

food.

The aim of the training was for the three goats to be able to

participate inour Animals in Actiondemonstration that includes

animals such as Meerkats, Armadillos and various bird species.

Themajorityoftheanimalsareboxedandtransportedfromtheir

enclosuretotheamphitheatre,sotheideaforgettingthegoatsto

theamphitheatrewasforthemtobewalkedthere.Itwasdecided

totrainthegoatstobeabletowalktotheamphitheaterwithout

a harness, head collar or lead rope and instead train them for

recall. This gives thegoats theopportunity to participate on the

walkvoluntarily,whileprovidingenrichmentforthemintermsof

thedifferentenvironmentchangeandassortedstimuli.

To beginwith,we trained the goats to awhistle and reinforced

withfoodfromapouch.However,atthebeginningofthetraining

session it was clear that the goats were not responding to the

whistle and were more interested in the keepers that had the

food inthepouches. Initiallythetrainingwasdonewith justone

goat at a time. The training sessions were conducted in their

insideenclosure.

Wethendecidedtoaddavisualandauditorycueintheformofa

brightly coloured bucket with a bicycle bell attached to the

handle. We changed their surroundings to just outside their

enclosureintheAnimalAdventurecourtyardandtrainingseemed

to progress quicker. They soon picked up the recall training by

usingthebicyclebelltocallthemandbyhavingfoodinthebucket

to reward them. After a week of completing this with just one

goatatatime,allthreegoatswereintroducedtogether.

A few problems cropped up during the initial training sessions.

One of the goatswas not as confident as theothers and as the

trainingprogressed theywerewalking furtheraround thezoo. If

anythingfrightenedthatoneparticulargoat,theothertwowould

then react and sometimes they would all run back to their

enclosure.

We took the training back to basics and tried to reward them

before a potentially nervous situation would occur in order to

refocus them. The goats quickly regained their confidence. The

bicyclebell isnowusedmorefrequentlyas ithelps refocus their

attention,although,wealsouseitspontaneouslythroughoutthe

walktorewardthem.

The training programme is currently up and running and has

proven beneficial formany reasons. The walks are an excellent

form of environmental enrichment by providing the goats

opportunities to explore different, constantly changing

environmentswheretheyencounterdifferentsmells,visitorsand

unusualanimalsthattheyseealongthewalk.Thetrainingaspect

helpstobuildarelationship

between both the keepers

and the goats, and it

enables the visiting public

toseethemoutsideoftheir

enclosure without a

harness, getting some

much needed exercise.

Please come and see them

inourAnimalsInActonand

Super Species Live

demonstrations.

Push,PullorWait?ByChristinaStenderZSLLondonZoo

When it comes toenriching thedaily livesof London’s fascinating

nocturnalprimates,Moholibushbabies(Galagomoholi),thingsarenotaschallengingaswiththelorises.

Thebushbabiesareblessedwithanincrediblecuriosityforanything

and everything new and enjoy investigating their surroundings to

thefullest.Thereforeasoneoftheirkeepersittakeslittleeffortto

getthemengaginginsomethingdifferent.

True to form this was the exactly the case when they were

introduced to a clear food-dispenser with built in push and pull

opportunities.Althoughthebushbabieshavenotquitefiguredout

just yet how these blue push and pull pinswork, they still find it

veryintriguingandgiveittheirfullattention.Theycanclearlysense

thepotential for funaswell as spotting themealwormsgradually

droppingdownuntiltheyareaccessibleatthebottomofthefood-

dispenser. All three bushbabies have spent time sniffing the

dispenser,scentmarkingit,shovingitandpatientlywatchingit.

Forabushbaby it canbea

bit frustrating having the

mealworms,whichareone

of their favourite foods,

just out of their reachdue

to the fact that they have

not quite worked out the

mechanicsof thedeviceat

this stage.Thismeans that

theycurrentlyneedtowait

for the mealworms to fall

down of their own accord.

Ifthiswaitingtimeexceeds

their patience, then the

bushbabies tend to leap

around the enclosure

temporarilybefore returning to thedispenser to see if any of the

deliciousmealwormshavenowbecomeavailabletothem.

The objective of this device is to increase the activity of the

bushbabies whilst ultimately heightening the reward for them at

theend.Although itmighttakethemsometimetorealiseexactly

howthedeviceworkstheyappeartobehavingfunlearning.

EnrichmentbyMazuriByJacobWinfieldZSLLondonZoo

Here on the Mammals South section we are excited that the

enrichment equipment from Mazuri, supplied by the BMC, has

arrived.

The ‘RockyLou’arrivedfirst fortheprimates. It’sahalfballwitha

mirrortop.Thedeviceisindestructible(sofar),easytosanitiseand

canbeput inanyofourprimateenclosures. TheSulawesiCrested

Macaquesareboisterous,playfulanddestructiveimmediatelywent

onthedevice,lipsmackingattheirreflection,jumpingonandoffit

and rocking it back

andforth.Overallit

is a really positive

enrichment device.

Weareyettotry it

with the other

primatesonsection

but are definitely

going to order

more.

A ‘Looky Lou’mirror was put in with our Gorilla group on a very

largechain. It isa largemirrorthat isdurableandeasytosterilise.

Each gorilla responded differently to it. Zaire, our oldest female,

initially kept glancing at herself but was probably the least

interested.MjukuandbabyAlikakeptglancingat it,holding itand

looking behind it. But the most effective response was from

Kumbukathesilverback.Hespentagesholdingonto itand looking

at himself, going behind it and swinging it around. He had never

come across amirror that he could not destroy before. In gorilla

termsitwasatotalsuccess!

Finally, we also received some giant, 32 inch diameter,

indestructible balls for our big cats. The balls had to be taken

through the paddock

gatesastheyweresobig!

Thetigersresponsewasto

immediately pounce on

the balls. The cubs in

particular showed the

most interest by rolling

the ball around the

paddock.They triedbiting

and climbing on the balls.

The balls survived the

encounterandlivetofight

anotherday. Inthefuture

we might try scenting

them or covering them in

blood.

We will get plenty of use out of all these versatile and durable

enrichment devices. We are already starting to put together

anotherorderformoreItems.

WI$H LIST:

Wewanttogiveabig‘THANKYOU’to

everyonewhocontributedtothiseditionof

‘EnrichingZSL’.Ifanyofthereadershave

anyquestions,pleasefeelfreetocontact

theauthorofthearticledirectlyorusvia

email.

ZoeBryant<zoe.bryant@zsl.org>

GrantKother<grant.kother@zsl.org>

NEWS & UPCOMING EVENTS • Ungulate Training Workshop, July 20th

2016. • Xenarthra Workshop, September 10-11th

2016. • Nocturnal primate Workshop, (Date to be

confirmed).

EnrichmentintheBlackburnPavilionByPaulAtkinZSLLondonZoo

IntheBlackburnpavilionwehousearound80individualbirdsof

about20differentspecies.All thebirdsthathavebeenselected

tocohabitthemainflightarechosenspecificallysothatallareas

and micro habitats within the enclosure are utilised and

aggression between individuals and species is avoided. The

enclosure also provides ample opportunity for intra and

interspecies interaction.Theexhibithasbeencreated to lookas

natural as possiblewith live shrubs and trees providing natural

perches,mockrock, logsinvaryingstatesofdecay,alargepond

andavarietyofsubstratesallofwhichsimulatedifferenthabitats

forthevariousspeciestoexploit.

Weprovideregular livefoodscattersatvaryingtimesoftheday

sothatthebirdsdonotknowwhentoexpecttheirnextlivefeed.

Thispreventsbirdsfromgorgingthemselveson livefoodfroma

bowl and improves their physical health as it encourages

exploratory behavior asmost forage through substrate and leaf

litter to find the food. Providing a scatter in this way also

preventsmoredominantbirdsfrombecomingterritorialoverthe

foodand being aggressive towards other individuals. To further

avoiddominantspecieshoggingallthefoodwehaveprovided9

separatestationswithdifferentfood items,(seeds,pellets,fruit)

acrosstheenclosuresothebirdshave

to search out their favoured items.

Theseitemsarenotalwaysputinthe

samefeedersoagainthebirdsdonot

becomeaccustomedtoonefeeder.In

thebirdhousehusbandryistailoredto

specific bird species requirements, in

ordertofititsnaturalbehaviorandin

providingthis variedenvironmentwe

havemanagedtofillmanyofthebirds

enrichmentneeds.

Are there any items that you think would benefit your

sectionoryouranimals,which fallunder thecategoryof

behaviouralmanagement?Ifsopleaseforwardyourideas

toJimMackieforLondon&MattO’LearyforWhipsnade.

Second to staying alive, breeding and reproducing are strong

instincts an organism possesses and therefore can be incredibly

enriching. Breeding in a mixed flight can be difficult and is not

without many obstacles, such as competition for nest sites and

foodfornestlings.Over thepast fewyearswehaveconcentrated

on designing ways to provide the birds with the best chances to

breed. Once we have nestlings our next problem is making sure

they get enough food. Hooded Pittas,we learned, favour feeding

their chicks earthworms. But, as earthworms tend to quickly

burrow into the soil and avoid being eaten by the hungry Pitta

chicks, we had to make a small change in how the worms were

presented. We came up with

theideaofsinkingasmall tub

(with holes for drainage) into

the ground and keeping it

topped up with earthworms.

Within just a few days the

Pittas a species that naturally

inhabits the forest floor, had

learnt to hop down into the

tub and so they were able to provide plenty of food for the

nestlings.Theotherbirdsnevershowedmuchinterestinusingthe

buckets,eitherbecausetheydonotnaturallyinhabitthegroundor

wormsarenota favoured food, soweavoided theproblemwith

competitionwhilstatthesametimemakingsurethewormswere

alwaysavailable.Usingthismethod,wewereabletobreedHooded

Pittas.

We have target trained

Ultramarine Grosbeaks to

take live food from us

which has meant that in

2010 we reared 5 chicks

from 3 clutches for the

first time. The question

may arise as to whether

thistargettrainingmethod

temporarily detracted

from the enrichment

gainedfromscatterfeeds,asthebirdsnolongerhadtospendtime

looking for food as we made sure they got all they needed.

Althoughthismaybethecase,thetimespentcarryingoutnatural

breeding behaviours always proves to be an incredibly enriching

experienceandsotheendsjustifiedthemeans.