Animal Enrichment is one of the most fun parts of our job! Our animals are always the center focus of our day-to-day life, so finding creative ways to keep them entertained and promote their natural behaviors is definitely a priority.
Enrichment goes beyond a new toy or simple engagement, it is meant to ensure that both the behavioral and physical needs of our animals are met by providing species-appropriate behavior and choices (credit goes to the Association of Zoos & Aquariums Enrichment Guiding Principles).
We also take into account that both of our animals are individuals, with their own personalities and needs. Wyatt loves anything to do with water or tearing apart stuffies whereas Tiberius would rather dig through a pile of grass clippings or cuddle with his stuffies. With that in mind, we craft all of our enrichment activities so that we are meeting the needs of both animals while providing fun activities that keep them stimulated mentally and physically.
Things like scents, sounds, sights, and touch all encourage animals to explore their surroundings.
Stimulating an animals mind through training sessions or problem solving, such as puzzle cubes.
Enclosure and habitat changes entice animals to navigate their surroundings in new ways.
Training interactions with handlers or play between handlers and/or another animal.
Presentation of food in a creative way, such as encouraging a hunting or foraging behavior.
Goal-based enrichment planning starts with looking at Grey Wolf’s natural history and coming up with ideas that would encourage the behaviors and responses you would expect from the species. For example, wolves’ scent roll in the wild to help mask their own scent so we have created enrichment activities to encourage that behavior.
By creating goal-based enrichment activities, we have a better way to encourage observable behaviors to share with program participants and explain why those behaviors may be important.
At the end of the day, the most important part of enrichment planning for us is ensuring that our animals are happy and healthy.
A favorite for our Ambassador Animals when it is hot out! We take different types of foods, like blueberries or a variety of meats, and freeze them in water or bone broth. These “ice cubes” provide a nice cool treat on hot days and encourage natural foraging behaviors.
Wolves are incredibly intelligent animals, so we are always trying to keep them on their toes by rotating out different types of puzzle balls and cubes. These items hold treats like freeze dried chicken or organ meats, sometimes high-quality kibble and even mealworms or dried crickets!
Scent rolling is a common behavior in wolves and they often use it to hide their own scent. Tiberius loves to scent roll and we encourage that by providing natural fiber bags filled with hay or straw with a new scent (like peppermint oil, vanilla extract, or lemon oil). We also grow and harvest lavender routinely for our animals to enjoy!
Wyatt is our resident water-loving Ambassador. We provide a small splash pad for her entertainment and have large water barrels in her containment area, but we are working on building a brand new swimming pond for her this summer (2023)! Stay tuned for the reveal and lots of photos.
Not only is feeding whole prey carcasses part of their diet, it is a fantastic enrichment opportunity. It is often done with small prey such as rabbits, chicken, quail, ducks, and sometimes rodents.
We hang cooked sweet potato pasta noodles around their containment for our ambassador animals to find. It requires them to use their olfactory senses to forage for these snacks.
We’ve constructed our containment areas in such a way that we utilize hidden spots around their outdoor habitat to hide fresh treats like blueberries, blackberries, pumpkin, and smelt. It is a great way to see foraging behavior in action!
Both Wyatt and Tiberius love stuffies but for different reasons. Wyatt loves to tear them apart, however Tiberius loves to nurture them and sleep with them. One thing they both enjoy is a game of keep-away with their stuffies!
Like any facility, we perform routine maintenance (read: mowing the grass and trimming). We have 3 acres to maintain and that means we have an excess of clippings. Our ambassadors love to explore the piles of grass/leaves and will often scent roll and dig through them.
We are fortunate enough to have access to multiple state parks and local community nature preserves. It isn’t uncommon for us to take our Ambassadors off-site for a hike or long walk. Both of our animals enjoy their outdoor walks but Tiberius takes the cake in his excitement level for off-site adventures.
Traditionally, we would be playing “nature” sounds to relax our ambassadors and provide some auditory stimulation, however neither respond to nature sounds or show any interest. What you will find is Wyatt perking up if she hears Netflix starting up and Tiberius losing his mind when he hears baseball. We indulge them during downtime and encourage Tiberius’s excitement over Dodger Baseball.
