EnrichmEnt at. Objects for Enriching Bears. An animal welfare project by FOUR PAWS. Encouraging bears to perform species typical.

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Homer Weaver
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1 Enrichment Encouraging bears to perform species typical behavior and mental activity. EnrichmEnt at BEar Sanctuary arbesbach Objects for Enriching Bears Drawings and pictures: Bärenwald Arbesbach Stefan Knöpfer Text: Sigrid Zederbauer, Stefan Knöpfer and Monika Fiby Translation and editing: Monika Fiby, Lauren Axtmann Layout: Dino Kunkel Published in 2009

The bears skills are challenged to make the search for food interesting for them - for example by hiding food under stones and in earth burrows, or by spiking it on branches.

Since the food locations constantly change, they must search every day for where the goodies are hidden.

2 The bears skills are challenged to make the search for food interesting for them - for example by hiding food under stones and in earth burrows, or by spiking it on branches. Over time, several objects were developed to encourage bear activity when searching for food. Thus, the animals need the whole day for collecting their huge supply of food. Since the food locations constantly change, they must search every day for where the goodies are hidden. hiding Food In the wild, a brown bear spends about two thirds of its day searching for food, which may involve travelling long distances. In order to offer the bears at the Bear Forest a similiar daily routine, they are fed in a special way. Every day all the bears are shifted to another enclosure for some time. During this time, food is dispersed and hidden in their own enclosure. As the bears know this procedure, they enjoy changing between enclosures.

3 Snack PlatES Snack plates are round wooden plates with wooden sticks or twigs fixed to them. Food is spiked on to the plates and the bears pick it skillfully.

It cannot see and touch the food at the same time because the holes in the ball are too small and too far apart for this

4 touch Ball A ball with two holes is filled with little food pieces such as grapes and with twigs. The bear must poke its paw in the ball to feel the food. It cannot see and touch the food at the same time because the holes in the ball are too small and too far apart for this purpose. However, it can reach into the ball with both paws at the same time. The food pieces are small and dispersed between the twigs. The bears need quite some time to empty the ball. Each bear develops its own method to do so.

Because of their excellent sense of smell, the bears will know if there is food in the barrel and will then try to get to it.

5 aluminium BarrEl Small holes are drilled in the whole surface of the barrel. The barrel is filled with raisins, dry noodles or dog food pellets. Because of their excellent sense of smell, the bears will know if there is food in the barrel and will then try to get to it. To do this, they have to turn the barrel. This mostly happens with a powerful stroke of the paw, and sometimes with careful snout prodding. Since only a small part of the food falls out at a time, the bears are occupied by this object for a long time.

Food PiPE A pipe which is filled with food is hung on a branch, out of reach of the bears. A rope with a stick is fixed to the pipe and can be reached by the bears.

6 Food PiPE A pipe which is filled with food is hung on a branch, out of reach of the bears. A rope with a stick is fixed to the pipe and can be reached by the bears. When they pull the rope, food falls out of the pipe. Each bear has its own method of getting the food. Whilst one uses its mouth to pull the rope, another uses its paw.

Carrots, cucumbers and other goodies are plugged into the holes of the logs.

7 hanging log with holes Holes are drilled into short pieces of tree logs. These logs are hung between trees at a height of one to two meters. Carrots, cucumbers and other goodies are plugged into the holes of the logs. To reach the food, the bears must stand up on their hind legs. The difficulty for them is that the logs give way and dangle when the bears want to hold on to them. They need many skills to reach the food.

This hole is filled with goodies such as tomatos, grapes or walnuts and then closed up with stones from both sides.

8 StumP with StonES All bears like to handle this tree stump. They love to retrieve fruit or vegetables from it. A big square opening reaches through a tree stump. This hole is filled with goodies such as tomatos, grapes or walnuts and then closed up with stones from both sides. The bears must remove the stones to reach the goodies. They use their long claws for this purpose. Because they are so skillful, they manage to get the stones out of the hole and to reach the goodies.

The bears can smell if there is food in the ball and will shake the ball to get it out.

9 ShakE Ball A 50 cm wide hanging ball is filled with food through an opening at the top. The surface of the ball is covered with little holes, from which the snacks, such as raisins, dried noodles or dog food pellets, can fall. The bears can smell if there is food in the ball and will shake the ball to get it out. A powerful smack with the paw causes the ball to spin and food to fall out. When the bears are not up for a show of strength, they simply sit under the ball and try to extract the food from the holes with their tongues and lips instead.

the pole. Smaller holes allow the food to fall out of the ball.

10 turning Ball A plastic ball of 50cm width is attached to a horizontal metal pole, around which it can be turned. The ball is filled with small pieces of food (mostly dry dog food pellets or raisins) through a larger hole near the pole. Smaller holes allow the food to fall out of the ball. Every bear has its own technique to get at the food. Most use their paw to turn the ball, but hoovering food from the ball with their snout is another popular method.

If the bear pushes the ball upwards with its snout or paw, goodies such as raisins, dog food pellets, sunflower seeds and noodles fall out.

11 Ball on a PolE A small red ball of 20cm width is placed on an upright hanging metal pole. A hole at the lowest point of the ball is plugged by the pole. A hole on the opposite side allows the ball to be filled with food. If the bear pushes the ball upwards with its snout or paw, goodies such as raisins, dog food pellets, sunflower seeds and noodles fall out. If the ball is fiercely swayed back and forth, food falls from holes drilled into the side of the plastic. It takes the animals some time to develop a technique for getting the food. At first, they often try to get at the food through the holes with their lips and tongues.

12 wagon wheel A spectacular object is the wagon wheel. The wheel hangs on a metal pole, attached to two trees, at a height of two meters. Three balls, which can be filled with fruit and vegetables, are tied to the spokes of the wheel. To get at the food, the bears must turn the wagon wheel or shake the individual balls.

A large hole in each ball allows it to be filled with food and emptied.

13 abacus The abacus is composed of two balls and a metal pole. The two balls are slid onto the pole and can be pushed back and forth - hence the name. A large hole in each ball allows it to be filled with food and emptied. To make it tricky for the bears, the hole is located at the lighter thus upper side of the ball. To empty the balls, the bear must stand on its hind legs and try to turn the ball with its paws so that the food comes out.

Cheetah Outreach Animal Enrichment Plan

Cheetah Outreach Animal Enrichment Plan We can improve the welfare of our animals by using environmental and behavioral enrichment to enhance their physical, social, cognitive and psychological well being.