Note on optimizing environmental enrichment: a study of fennec fox and zoo guests

Environmental enrichment is widely used to stimulate animal time budgets that seem more natural and diverse than those of unenriched animals. Uncertainty of reward is a suggested means to maintain enrichment's efficacy. Foraging tasks are widely applied in zoo animal enrichment, yet few rely on the logic of optimal foraging theory to help maintain animal motivation. We applied a foraging strategy to zoo housed fennec foxes as enrichment. We varied only the probability of when and where food would occur in the animals' exhibit. Our methods increased behavioral diversity, animal activity, and stimulated guest interest in the exhibit.