Development and evaluation of environmental enrichment for captive Humboldt penguins
Environmental enrichment is of high importance for zoos. Borås zoo asked SLU (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) for a student to perform a bachelor thesis for them. The task was to develop and evaluate environmental enrichment for their Humboldt penguins. A structure was made, consisting of a sinking skeleton with a floating bridge attached to it. It was presented in an area of the pool that the keepers had experienced that the penguins did not use to any extent. The structure was then evaluated using instantaneous scan sampling looking at the penguins? use of their enclosure. Observations were made for seven days during a period of two weeks after the introduction of the enrichment. During the two weeks, the results show an increased percentage of usage of the pool area with time and also of the zone where the structure was placed. It is however difficult to conclude that the results are due to exclusively the structure, although fewer observations were made in the outside enclosure with time, indicating that the enrichment could be a contributing factor.