Hula hoops, PVC piping, plastic grass, long coils of rope and straw hats. What do they all have in common? All are materials used to make enrichment items for the mammals and reptiles currently inhabiting the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
Assistant trainer Lauren Lear showed off her enrichment item for Margaret, a Hyacinth macaw, the largest parrot in the world. The item consisted of four different sized straw hats strung together, which Lear said Margaret would shred apart. “All of this enrichment encourages natural behaviors. In the wild, they would be chewing and gnawing on leaves and trees and branches, so we want to try and encourage that same behavior here,” she said. “It?s a good thing, you?re trying to get the animals to showcase what they would do every day in the wild.”
“The main thing that we?re trying to do is challenge them intellectually,” associate veterinarian Kat Hadfield said. “One of the really fun things to do is hide stuff inside things and let the animals figure out how to get them back out again. We?re trying to encourage their natural foraging abilities.”
Before any item is taken to the animals, it hasto be checked over and approved by the veterinary staff. “The most important thing [we look for] is obviously safety for the animals,” Hadfield said. “Each item is made with a specific type of animal in mind.”
Animal enrichment has been taking place at the aquarium since the 1980s. On Tuesday, around 20 Aquarium staff created new enrichment items for birds, monkeys, fish, dolphins, bats and reptiles.
Sue Hunter, director of marine mammals and animal training, said that enrichment can even be done at home with domestic animals like dogs and cats. “A lot of dogs like to forage for their food, so an owner can make a scent trail with a piece of hotdog and then hide the food, so the dog has to go searching for it. They really get stimulated by that,” she said. “Most of the things you can either buy or make yourself from recycled objects. Anything that increases your animal?s activity level, or even extend feeding time, will be really good enrichment.”
“The enrichment program is a lot of fun for the staff and it helps us take care of the animals,” Hunter said. “And we?re happy because the animals are happy!”
