Behavioral enrichment

Behavioral enrichment (closely related to environmental enrichment) is an animal husbandry principle that seeks to enhance the quality of captive animal care by identifying and providing the environmental stimuli necessary for optimal psychological and physiological well-being. The goal of environmental enrichment is to improve or maintain an animal's physical and psychological health by increasing the range or number of species-specific behaviors, increasing positive utilization of the captive environment, preventing or reducing the frequency of abnormal behaviors such as stereotypies, and increasing the individual's ability to cope with the challenges of captivity. The purpose of behavioral enrichment is to improve the overall welfare of animals in captivity and create a habitat similar to what they would experience in their wild environment.

For each animal in captivity, a goal oriented plan is outlined and created to meet the needs of that animal specifically. Many different factors are included in making an enrichment outline including the needs of the species, their desired behaviors, an individual history, and the animal's current habitat. This plan is then put into action and changed based on the response and changing needs of the animal.

A variety of enrichment techniques are used to create desired outcomes similar to an animals individual and species' history. Each of the techniques used are intended to stimulate the animal's senses similarly to how they would be activated in the wild. Provided enrichment may be seen in the form of auditory, olfactory, habitat factors, food, research projects, training, and objects.

Environmental enrichment can be offered to any animal in captivity, including:

Environmental enrichment can be beneficial to a wide range of vertebrates and invertebrates such as land mammals, marine mammals, and amphibians. In the United States, specific regulations must be followed for enrichment plans in order to guarantee, regulate, and provide appropriate living environments and stimulation for animals in captivity.

Creating an individual goal oriented plan for each animal in captivity is a crucial part of behavioral enrichment. Each plan is created by considering desired species specific behavior, their habitat while in captivity, and their individual history. The plan created for an animal often also includes planning in order to discourage unwanted and abnormal behaviors that are acquired from being in captivity. Every plan that is created must have enrichment activities that can be well documented as a way to ensure that the animal is benefitting from the plan and activities they take part in. By creating a plan with easily documented activities, caretakers are able to adjust the plan as needed for desired behaviors of the individual animal.

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