Module 07 - Environmental Enrichment

Examples of Environmental Enrichment

"Old Bill" lives in a large pen with logs for climbing and sitting.  He receives a variety of foodstuffs that he has selected as his favourites.  The food is placed so that he climbs each day and gets exercise.  The floor of the pen is covered in sawdust that contains sunflower seeds, raisins or peanuts so that Bill spends much of his time foraging as he would in the wild.  He is approximately 20 years old and his hair is thinning, but he still has an interest in the female monkey in the next pen. 

The examples of environmental enrichment shown above give an idea of the range of improvements that can be made in the way animals are housed and handled.  Many research animals have not been covered but species should not be held in environments that fail to meet their basic social and physical needs.  This applies to all animals but it is especially important for wild animals being held in captivity.  However, even those animals that have been bred in captivity for many generations retain many of the traits seen in their wild counterparts.  Laboratory mice and rats are still prey species and still behave to protect themselves from predation.  They need safe places within their cages, places to hide.  We must remember that mice are not just small rats.  Rats prey on mice in the wild so we cannot keep mice and rats together within the same airspace as the pheromones from the rats will be distressing to the mice.