Preference assessments as a tool to evaluate environmental enrichment

Area of Science:

• Animal Welfare Science
• Behavioral Ecology
• Zoological Husbandry

Background:

• Environmental enrichment is crucial for enhancing mental and physical stimulation in zoo animals.
• Previous research focused on enrichment's behavioral impact, but lacked preference assessments linked to long-term interaction.
• Understanding animal preferences for enrichment is key to optimizing their use and efficacy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine African lions' preferences for specific enrichment items.
• To evaluate the relationship between established preferences and long-term interaction with enrichment over 24-hour periods.
• To assess if shorter preference assessments can reliably predict long-term interaction.

Main Methods:

• Study 1: Ten-minute free operant, paired-choice preference assessments with three African lions.
• Study 2: 30, 24-hour trials observing African lion behavior with enrichment items.
• Statistical analysis using generalized estimating equations to correlate preference data with interaction data.

Main Results:

• A significant relationship was found between initial preference (approach and duration) and long-term interaction (total duration and hours interacted).
• Shorter preference assessment durations (first 2 minutes) yielded comparable significant results to longer assessments.
• Preferred enrichment items were interacted with more frequently and for longer durations.

Conclusions:

• Preference assessments are a reliable tool for predicting the amount and duration of enrichment interaction over time.
• These assessments can be used as a time and cost-effective method to evaluate enrichment efficacy in zoological settings.
• Findings support the use of preference assessments to guide the selection of enrichment that maximizes animal engagement and welfare.