Animal Enrichment Wish List

Giving Opportunities
We accept many items to use for animal enrichment and to help with the zookeepers’ day-to-day tasks!

What is Enrichment?
It is a multidisciplinary field of study that is referred to as environmental enrichment. In the book Second Nature: Environmental Enrichment for Captive Animals (1998), Dr. David J. Shepardson defines environmental enrichment as, “An animal husbandry principle that seeks to enhance the quality of captive animal care by identifying and providing the environmental stimuli necessary for optimal psychological and physiological well-being.”

Why Do Captive Animals Need Environmental Enrichment?
Research shows that an animal in a captive environment is confronted with many stressful circumstances to which they must adapt. “Compared with the wild, confinement offers few opportunities for an animal to learn to cope with aversive conditions. Enrichment provides animals with behavioral options for responding to the environments: (Carlstead and Seidensticker, 1989). Environmental enrichment performs a multitude of functions and “promotes normal specie-specific behavior, increases activity and exploration, reduces emotionality, and facilitates coping ability.”

How Does Pine Grove Zoo Implement Environmental Enrichment?
Currently the zookeepers at PGZ apply enrichment techniques in several ways. Some techniques involve food, others involve scents, and some involve building things or altering the exhibit environment. For instance, keepers scatter pieces of food and vary the types, locations, and amounts of foods. They also distribute and exchange miscellaneous scents like perfume, spices, and bedding material throughout the exhibits. Keepers also build toys and incorporate live and/or natural materials into exhibit environments.

Why Does Pine Grove Zoo Need Support for Environmental Enrichment?
Because of the PGZ’s limited resources, zookeepers have very little time or money to devote to enrichment. Supporting the enrichment program through donations of items, funding, and/or ideas can help zookeepers provide a more humane existence for the Zoo’s animals and a more pleasurable experience for the Zoo’s visitors.

Monetary donations are always accepted!
During our off season, call us at (320) 616-5595 to make drop-off arrangements.