Animal Enrichment Essay

Enrichment is a method of enhancing animal welfare in captive populations (Claxton, 2011). The environment of animals when in the care of man, varies drastically from their wild counterparts (Shyne, 2006.) Captivity is an artificial environment in which animals must adapt to features that they would otherwise not experience in their natural environment. However, due to the significant differences between nature and captivity, there are a variety of maladaptive behaviors that may develop (Mollah, Quevedo, & Castro, 2011). The purpose of this academic report is to review contexts, applications, and benefits of enrichment on captive animals. This analysis will be using empirical studies to analyze the influence of enrichment across a variety of …show more content…
Enrichment can come in multiple categories such as auditory or sensory stimuli. The environmental embellishments can potentially impact the animal’s social, physical, or psychological welfare. Enrichment can take on many forms depending on the species-specific needs of that animal, these specific needs can vary environmentally, nutritionally, or socially. Ultimately, a cockatiel’s enrichment will vary drastically to the enrichment for that of a gorilla. The immense amount of variability and versatility of the technology provides a behavioral tool for both terrestrial and aquatic animals. Additionally, in order to be effective, the enrichment must fit individual …show more content…
Conversely, human-animal relationships can have a positive impact on both the zookeeper and the nonhuman animal resident. With enough experience, the man-animal relationship can reliably predict the type of interaction the animal will have with the human. Moreover, responses that are related to the hypothetical construct of fear occur when an animal encounters a human caretaker. Subsequently, the animal’s fearfulness is the target behavior that hopefully with behavioral intervention will decrease (Claxton,