Orangutan enrichment!
What is enrichment, what’s our process, and why is it important?
Zoo Atlanta is home to 10 orangutans, in six different groups, with various personalities, abilities and interests. This requires that we have a dynamic, diverse and ever-evolving enrichment program, which in turn requires the Animal Care Teams to plan each day to ensure safety, novelty and enjoyment for the animals in our stewardship.
Our enrichment program focuses on safety, mental stimulation, physical activity, and the positive wellbeing of the animals at Zoo Atlanta. Enrichment it no small task; it’s a multi-departmental collaboration between animal care professionals, animal area managers, veterinarians, animal nutrition experts, and horticulture experts. When someone has an idea for enrichment, they must go through an approval process that involves all these departments to ensure that an enrichment item or experience is safe for the animals, and this can vary greatly between species. Once an item or experience has been approved, the Animal Care Teams will then conduct strict observations in a mostly controlled environment to ensure that the enrichment is safe in action and effective.
So how do we determine what might make “good” enrichment for the orangutans? It all starts with understanding the natural history of any species. We know a lot about orangutans because of numerous behavioral studies done here at Zoo Atlanta and at other Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) organizations, as well as observations of wild orangutans. When we understand the natural behaviors we want to encourage, we can create items and experiences for the orangutans to fill their day with fun, excitement, and mental challenge. And by doing this, we can come up with devices, such as complicated toys that help us help the orangutans engage in an activity. If someone were to give you a basketball, you might want to play basketball with it, right? In the same way, we might give the orangutans some cardboard and paper, which they might choose to build a nest with. The items we give them are used to encourage desirable behaviors and thus also fill their days with activities.
Our three outdoor orangutan habitats provide a variety of options each day to keep the orangutans mentally stimulated and physically active. They can search for food items and treats hidden all around the large outdoor spaces and perhaps in complex puzzle balls with holes for food. In the orangutans’ behind-the-scenes indoor night area, forage tables are used to encourage the orangutans to “fish” with long sticks. Cardboard boxes and paper bags might be used to hide food items in unique ways and textures.
Enrichment is always changing, always developing, and we continually evaluate our program to ensure a diverse and engaging environment for our wonderful orangutan families here at Zoo Atlanta.
(Photos: Kristen W.)
Sara Fee
Senior Keeper, Primates
Connect With Your Wild Side #onlyzooatl