What Makes Some Enrichments Work? Testing Underlying Motivation in Giant Pandas
A panda explores a "gift" box on his second birthday.
Enrichment can be defined as any effort made to increase the well-being of animals in captivity and can have far-reaching effects on health, behavioral competence, reproduction, and behavioral preparedness for reintroduction to the wild. A survey of the literature reveals several shortcomings in the way scientists study enrichment. A good example is the "everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" approach, where researchers provide a suite of enrichments to animals simultaneously. The goal of enrichment reserach should be to develop a predictive science: specific psychological processes and properties of enrichment need to be identified. Ongoing CRES research on giant pandas at the San Diego Zoo and Wolong Breeding Center in China continues to make theoretical and practical advancements in this area.
In one study, CRES scientists investigated the responses of 14 giant pandas Ailuropoda melanoleuca to several enrichment items (manipulable objects and feeding devices) that possess different properties providing varying behavioral opportunities. Results suggest that it may be important to stimulate behavioral diversity but that specific behaviors or enrichment properties are not required. The unique behavioral "topography" seen with these enrichment devices also suggests that providing multiple enrichments with varying properties will maximize overall behavioral diversity.
In a second study, CRES researchers examined how giving pandas choice affects well-being. Results show that although pandas prefer to spend more time on exhibit, they show lower levels of stress when they are also given the choice of retreating to the bedroom. Accumulating evidence suggests a link between such enrichment efforts and enhanced well-being and reproduction.
A third study was designed to refine methods for evaluating well-being and to learn more about the biology of stress in this species. Six years of data on San Diego Zoo pandas showed strong daily and seasonal patterns. This information is extremely important, not only for understanding panda biology but also because it allows researchers to account for this baseline variation when trying to study the impact of potential stressors. These insights and methodology will prove useful in planned research on the effects of human disturbance on wild populations of pandas.
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View pandas on Panda Cam.
