What does a zoo penguin want for Christmas? A hula hoop.
Cedric the Bearded Crane wants a xylophone. And Fintan the lion? Ax body spray.
These are the items on Hollie Ross’s Christmas shopping list. Each year, the Toronto Zoo’s Behavioral Management Supervisor compiles a list of articles produced by zookeepers and posts them on the zoo’s website, in the hopes that Secret Santas will be augmented with cash to fund another year of specialized toys for the animals in your care.
Zookeepers make their requests based on research, observation, and knowledge of their loads. It is part of the fast-growing field of animal enrichment, which seeks to keep animals not only well-fed and well-housed, but also interested in their environment, to prevent them from getting bored.
“Our toys are usually for mammals, birds and some reptiles, but all the animals in the place have some form of enrichment,” says Ross.
“Even our bird-eating spider has an enriched environment.”
Hula hoops are used by zookeepers to create underwater play areas for penguins. They can also string fire hoses underwater, laying them at different levels to create fake kelp forests. They use the same techniques to entertain the otters.
Like most parents around Christmas, Ross searches Walmart, Toys R Us, and Amazon for toys and keeps an eye out for sales, but large mammal toys are specially made, with greater resistance to fangs and claws.
Toronto Zoo Launch the bountiful tree in 2018, allowing visitors to contribute a toy for a zoo animal and, in return, receive an ornament that they could give as a gift. The first year it raised $ 3,000. Sales increased after the show moved online in 2019, generating $ 14,000 last year.
Zoo animals receive toys throughout the year; the Christmas outlook is to generate public interest in the idea of animal enrichment.
Jeff Otto says the field of animal enrichment has grown at a rate of about 10 percent a year since he founded Otto Environmental in 1995. The Milwaukee-based company sells a variety of animal equipment, enclosures and toys, including tires. chews that can take on tigers, drunken cups for bears that move unpredictably like prey in the wild, and shaky cries for elephants, who stand 36 inches tall and weigh 90 kilograms. Prices vary widely, from inexpensive chew toys to more than $ 1,200 for something a grizzly can handle.
Otto says regulations and updates from the US National Institutes of Health mandating animal enrichment over the years helped launch and sustain the trend. He believes interest is also being fueled by the popularity of nature shows like the BBC’s “Our Planet” and by the ubiquity of camera-equipped cell phones, which have made it possible for anyone to be on the scene. right at the right time Capture animal behaviors and share them on social media platforms, where millions see them.
Toy development is based on the behavior of animals in nature, and each year more anecdotal and scientific information is added to that body of knowledge.
Orangutans have been observed in the wild making improvised whistles with bunches of leaves; gorillas use walking sticks; octopuses wear coconut shells as armor. Evidence has encouraged zookeepers to think more broadly in terms of animal environments and to consider what toys can help them express their natural behaviors.
For example, the new orangutan exhibit at the Toronto Zoo, scheduled to open next spring, will include a vending machine. The tokens for the vending machine will be hidden in their enclosure, forcing the orangutans to search for the tokens, which they will then have to use in the machine to get their food. Zoo keeper Amanda Carroll says the activity will help orangutans stay curious and active.
Orangutans also like crests; they like to paint their faces with chalk; They love to cover their heads with fabrics, all the items on their 2021 Christmas list.
The zoo is considering presenting Cecil the crane with a xylophone, in part based on evidence that chickens find xylophones interesting – Amazon even sells xylophones specially made for chicken coops.
And while Fintan loves Ax, Kanzi the Spotted Hyena loves the Calvin Klein Obsession.
“I don’t know what Obsession is about, but it seems to be a universal favorite for big cats,” Ross said. “In fact, they use it in the wild as camera traps.”
Scents trigger a natural olfactory response in cats, seen in nature, but also in their domesticated counterparts.
The trend of animal enrichment is also driving sales in pet stores.
“I see it as a growing sector,” says Ruth Heathcote, owner of Wag on the Danforth.
“I think people see that their animals really need to participate. They need some kind of encouragement to have a full life. “
Reference-www.thestar.com