Animal Enrichment

Wildlife West Nature Park, with its large habitats encompassing the natural habitats of its residents, provides an enhanced living environment for all the animals in the Park. Our enclosures provide not only plenty of space, but include private areas for the animals as well as features that encourage natural behaviors. Most of our animals' living spaces include trees for shade and climbing, and features designed specifically for each species to encourage physical and mental activity.

However, the mental and emotional well-being of captive animals requires much more than just superior surroundings. At Wildlife West, we work to ensure that each animal is not only physically healthy, but as psychologically well adjusted as possible. Our programs are proactive - we use enhancement techniques from the very first day animals arrive, rather than waiting for abnormal behavior to surface. By posing challenges with specific goals that require our animals to exercise the abilities they have evolved in response to the demands of life in the wild.

Feeding provides an excellent opportunity to pursue animal enrichment goals. Rather than simply "handing out" food to our animals, we often use unique methodologies in dispensing food. This encourages the animal to use its natural hunting/scavenging skills to find its food.  If an animal is capable of climbing, we hide food in the trees (bobcat, bear, foxes), if an animal is capable of smelling out the food and moving heavy objects, we might hide their food under rocks, wood chips, or branches (javelinas, bear, mountain lions, raccoons).

In some cases, these activities are coordinated with our educational programs. For example, our day camp attendees create "pinatas" for the animals, enclosing their chosen animal's food in cardboard wrapped with digestion-friendly tape, fashioned into shapes chosen by the children decorated with non-toxic crayons and markers, and covered with a variety of objects such as cardboard tubes and pine cones. The animal must retrieve the pinata and tear it apart to get to the food inside. This not only creates a stimulating experience for our animals, but provides a fascinating hands-on example of animal enrichment for our young wildlife enthusiasts.

Among the many generous donations to Wildlife West are a variety of food and other items suitable for animal enrichment activities. Donations of both domestic livestock and wild game products provide us with a source not only of meat for our animals, but also other items such as hides, tails, and bones. Tails are given to all the carnivores weekly, and hides are provided once or twice a month. Some of them rip the hide into small pieces, some roll around on it, and some don't do much of anything. The different smells of the meats and hides is good scent, taste, and play enrichment. Donated seasonal items, such as leftover pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns, provide other opportunities to challenge and entertain our residents. We also give the animals large plastic balls (primarily the bear, mountain lions, and javelinas) and other toys to play with and move them around periodically for smell enrichment and to stimulate interest.

During the hotter months we give popsicles (small chunks of food frozen in a small tub or container of water). This requires the animal to play with the ice and dig out the treats. We also give out frozen fruit (such as grapes, nuts, or sometimes horsetail), which gives the animal something a little different to eat, and it takes them a little longer to eat it. The raccoons especially love when the popsicle is placed in one of their water tubs!

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