General Session 1 Abstracts
SMALL BEARS WITH BIG NEEDS; ENRICHING LIVES AT THE WORLD’S LARGEST SUN BEAR SANCTUARY Emma Gatehouse, Free the Bears Fund, Inc. Watch Video (Login required) Full Abstract
Free the Bears Fund’s Cambodian bear sanctuary has been developed into one of the biggest bear sanctuaries in the world, at present providing a safe home for 113 resident rescued Malayan sun bears (Helarctos malayanus) and Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibet |
ORANGUTAN FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL HOLISTIC ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT PROGRAM (OFIHEEP) Maryanti, Orangutan Foundation International Watch Video (Login required) Full Abstract
Orangutan Foundation International's (OFI) orangutan rehabilitation center - the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia - is home to over 330 rescued orangutan orphans. The orangutans at the Care Center are provided with food, shelter, medical care, and enrichment. Most are released daily or every other day from their night cages to wander, forage, and play in the canopy of the Center's relic primary rain forest. When each orangutan is old enough and ready, he or she is released back into the wild. OFI's Holistic Environmental Enrichment Program (OFIHEEP) was developed in order to ensure that each and every orangutan at the Care Center learns the proper skills and behaviors that they will need in order to survive successfully in the wild. Within OFIHEEP, enrichment objects and activities are created, developed, and administered with the dual intention of preventing boredom, when orangutans stay in their sleeping cages during the day, by entertaining and/or stimulating the problem-solving skills of the orangutans, and of encouraging the orangutans to develop and practice skills – such as foraging and food processing behaviors – that they will need in order to successfully survive in the wild. This paper provides a full outline of the comprehensive holistic enrichment program at the Care Center provided orangutans during the days when they are not released from their sleeping enclosures. The history behind the program, the reasons for its importance, as well as details about the methods, materials, and motivations for all of the behavioral and environmental enrichment that makes up this program, are discussed. |
INTEGRATING SOUTHERN SEA OTTER RESIDENTS WITH REHABILITATION CASES AS A FORM OF ENRICHMENT AT THE MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM
Cecelia Azhderian, Monterey Bay Aquarium Watch Video (Login required) Full Abstract
The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s (MBA) Sea Otter Exhibit (SOE) houses 0.5 non-releasable southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) on a permanent basis. Throughout the year, live-stranded southern sea otters enter MBA’s Sea Otter Research and Conservation (SORAC) program for treatment and, in many cases, eventual release to the wild. The SOE and SORAC teams collaborate to meet the nutritional, social, medical, and environmental needs of all the sea otters on site, and a joint program has evolved in which caregivers rotate animals into diverse settings providing many social enrichment opportunities. The aquarium has five pools for maintaining sea otters: the main public exhibit and four above-ground tanks behind the scenes. SOE and SORAC personnel house sea otters of varying age classes in different combinations for unpredictable periods—from a few hours to several months—with the following goals: satisfying each animal’s social needs (e.g., placing stranded pups with adult female surrogates, introducing juvenile animals to promote sparring and play before release); facilitating research (e.g., physiology and energetics projects, pharmacokinetic trials, nutritional studies); handling medical and quarantine cases; holding non-releasable animals for placement in other facilities; and, when possible, allowing visitors to view surrogate and pup interactions in the exhibit. This dynamic management strategy enhances the ability of care staff to enrich the lives of sea otters at MBA and represents a unique programmatic approach within the marine mammal field. |
ENRICHMENT TO REDUCE STRESS IN WILDLIFE REHABILITATION
Pattie Beaven, PAWS Wildlife Center Watch Video (Login required) Full Abstract
Animals admitted into a wildlife rehabilitation center suffer from stress different than what they would normally encounter in their natural environment. They are usually in smaller enclosures for their well-being while they undergo treatment for injuries, illnesses, and attacks. They are surrounded by life-forms normally viewed as predators, and on occasion they are kept alone until they are healed and ready for release, regardless if they are social or solitary. Developing an enrichment program for wildlife in rehabilitation care has proven incredibly beneficial, mentally and physically, and even in assessing animals to determine whether they are ready for release. Encouraging natural foraging techniques, providing natural hide-outs to help animals feel more comfortable, and simply giving the animals something to do in their time spent in human care are some of the examples what an enrichment program can provide for wild animals. All varieties of wildlife from songbirds, crows, squirrels, seals, and bears have benefited from enrichment programs at wildlife centers. Enrichment programs are increasingly becoming more vital to wildlife rehabilitation success. Zoos and aquariums have even started assisting by providing items for wildlife to interact with and ideas for rehabilitators to encourage more natural behaviors from wild animals. |