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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 14, 2026

The Use of the Puzzle Box as a Means of Assessing the Efficacy of Environmental Enrichment
06:50

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Review: Rethinking environmental enrichment as providing opportunities to acquire information.

I Veissier1, C Lesimple1, V Brunet1

  • 1Université Clermont Auvergne, INRAE, VetAgro-Sup, UMR Herbivores, 63122 Sant-Genes-Champanelle, France.

Animal : an International Journal of Animal Bioscience
|August 13, 2024
PubMed
Summary

Environmental enrichment enhances animal welfare and cognition by providing information through environmental interaction. This approach suggests complex, variable environments and intensive engagement yield greater benefits for animals.

Keywords:
AgencyAnimal welfareCaptive animalsEnvironmental complexityExploration

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Area of Science:

  • Animal Welfare Science
  • Cognitive Ethology
  • Behavioral Ecology

Background:

  • Environmental enrichment (EE) aims to improve the welfare and cognitive function of captive and farm animals.
  • Existing EE strategies include sensory, physical, social, occupational, and feeding-based interventions.
  • The current understanding of EE primarily focuses on improving animal well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To reframe environmental enrichment as the process of providing animals with information through environmental interaction.
  • To explore the implications of this information-acquisition perspective on EE.
  • To propose new avenues for research in animal enrichment.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis of existing enrichment literature.
  • Theoretical reframing of environmental enrichment.
  • Identification of novel implications for enrichment research and application.

Main Results:

  • Environmental enrichment is fundamentally about providing animals with opportunities to acquire information via environmental interaction.
  • The process of information acquisition enhances an animal's ability to adapt to future environments.
  • Prolonged exposure does not always increase enrichment impact; neutral or negative stimuli can be enriching.

Conclusions:

  • Enrichment effectiveness is linked to the animal's ability to engage with and acquire information from its environment.
  • Complex and variable environments are more enriching due to increased information availability.
  • Future research should investigate the implications of intensive engagement and information acquisition in enrichment studies.