Environmental Enrichment : the creation of opportunities for informal learning

Young, RJ; Schetini, CA; Cipreste, CF

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the informal learning opportunities that arise from environmental enrichment and what their consequences are for the animal. Environmental enrichment typically involves the addition of novel stimuli to a captive animal's environment in an attempt to improve animal welfare for example, the provision of toys to an enclosure. All of social, occupation or cognitive, physical, sensory, and nutritional categories of environmental enrichment if managed properly can provide informal learning opportunities for animals. The arrival of internet video calling has created a number of extremely interesting social enrichment opportunities; for example, the ability of animals of the same species to interact visually and auditory in a remote manner. In the case of cognitive enrichment, food is often used to lure the animal into using the enrichment; it is then less clear whether the primary reinforcement is the food or the learning opportunity.

• Online Publication Date: Dec 12, 2019
• Publication Date: Feb 27, 2020
• Deposit Date: Jan 14, 2020
• Pages: 101-118
• Book Title: Zoo Animal Learning and Training
• ISBN: 9781118968536-(hbk.);-9781118968550-(ebk.)
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118968543.ch6
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118968543.ch6
• Related Public URLs: https://www.wiley.com/en-gb; https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/Zoo+Animal+Learning+and+Training-p-9781118968550