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News for the month of November 2001

Environmental Enrichment

A concentration on Environmental Enrichment was the main focus of this month. Environmental Enrichment is achieved by increasing the mental stimulus of a captive animal. The ultimate form of enrichment for any captive animal is to provide it with a habitat that caters to the natural behaviors of its inhabitants. For example, an enriching habitat for an arboreal (tree dwelling) monkey would be a high, naturalistic enclosure with lots of trees, vines or ropes ETC.

In addition to a naturalistic habitat, companionship is also a fantastic form of environmental enrichment. Even normally solitary animals in captivity seem to really enjoy companionship. Companionship does not necessarily have to be with its own species. If you pay close attention to both the Black and White Ruffed Lemur cams and the Red Ruffed Lemur cams, you will surely observe numerous interesting behavioral interactions between the lemurs, tortoises and iguanas! All of these interactions and mental stimulation add to the psychological well being of these animals.

The concept of Environmental Enrichment can be taken much further then providing a large environment and companionship. All of the various five senses can be stimulated. For example, having a dog run around a predator's habitat sets off all kinds of instinctual behaviors and thought process. Smelling the sent marks of both the same species and predator/prey species will arouse most animals. Enrichment is only limited by the imagination of the keepers! It can and should be endless.

This month we decided to stimulate the large felines with a technique David and myself call "Sending Them On Vacation". This is a fairly simple, yet extremely effective enriching technique were we rotate animals between the various habitats here at the Sanctuary. This month we moved the Golden Tigers (Marcan/Sherikon) into the lion habitat. We then moved the lions (King/Princess) into the Golden Tigers habitat. Next, we moved Clarence and Gypsy the Sanctuary's adult pair of standard orange and black tigers into a large off camera habitat that formerly housed cougars. Immediately upon entering their new habitats each cat was stimulated by not only new surroundings but also an intense array of new smells. A feline festival of sniffing and remarking of territory was underway. The cats were on a mission of visual and olfactory (smell) exploration. The males in particular were consumed with sent marking over the previous inhabitants territory identifiers. This lasted for days! The cats were thoroughly intrigued, as we had hoped.

After a week or so, we moved everybody back to their original habitats. The entire process was then repeated! Each cat was consumed with smelling and re-marking behaviors. I think the lions were particularly intrigued by all of this.

As stated above, Environmental Enrichment can take many forms. Scent enrichment was just one creative way to mentally stimulate the animals we love so much. Environmental Enrichment is an ongoing process here at the Sanctuary; but nothing is more enriching then a large natural enclosure with a companion and lots of attention from David and me.

Remember, there are many ways to help the cause. Here are a few.

1) Tell everyone you know about the website. By increasing the number of visitors, we increase the awareness of the danger these wonderful creatures face.
2) If you have a website, link to us - http://www.tigerhomes.org/
3) Submit our site http://www.tigerhomes.org/ to any webcam sites you may visit.
4) Make a donation to the sanctuary. There is an area on the gift shop for those who want to contribute.
5) Purchase items from the gift shop. They make great gifts and are for a worthy cause.
6) Adopt a pet. It's a great way to virtually own one of the sanctuary animals.

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Remember, our main mission is to spread an interest in saving wild animals and wild places but we can't do it alone.

Story by: Jason and David

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