Enrichment programs

by Diana Goodrich and John Mulcahy

"Enrichment" is the term commonly used to refer to things that promote species-typical behaviors and decrease the boredom of a life in captivity. This article was published in the November 2002 issue of the newsletter Shape of Enrichment (www.enrichment.org).

The Fauna Foundation is a Canadian animal sanctuary located outside of Montreal, Quebec. Fauna was created by Gloria Grow and her partner, veterinarian Richard Allen. They began by rescuing companion animals and animals used in the agricultural industry. After several years, Gloria felt that she had to do something even more for animals and awareness. She found out that Dr. James Mahoney from a laboratory in New York State was looking for sanctuary retirement homes for chimpanzees used in biomedical research. In 1997, fifteen chimpanzees came to live at the Fauna Foundation from the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP). The Fauna Foundation became the first sanctuary in Canada to rescue chimpanzees and the first in the world to rescue chimpanzees who had been used in HIV research.

The chimpanzees who came to Fauna ranged in age from 8 to 37. Most of the younger chimpanzees had been born in the laboratory while most of the older chimps had spent time in private ownership and/or the entertainment industry before being given up to biomedical research. Many had lived in isolation for years before the socialization process began at LEMSIP in preparation for their new life at Fauna.

There is not a set program for rehabilitating ex-laboratory chimpanzees, so Fauna must rely upon what is known about chimpanzees. No captive situation can mimic life in the wild, but captive situations should attempt to provide chimpanzees with opportunities to behave as chimpanzees. Dr. Roger Fouts and Deborah Fouts and Dr. Mary Lee Jensvold of the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI) at Central Washington University were very helpful in sharing enrichment ideas with Fauna. Fauna, like CHCI, recognizes four basic types of enrichment.

Social enrichment

Social enrichment includes social interactions between the chimps and social interactions between the chimps and the humans. Introducing chimpanzees to one another is a challenge for captive settings — especially introducing chimps who have lived in isolation for many years. The socialization process can be a slow one, and there have been numerous injuries during chimpanzee fights at Fauna. However, allowing the chimpanzees to live in groups is one of the most important factors in rehabilitation from the laboratory setting. They have benefited tremendously from the relationships that they have formed with one another.

We cannot underestimate the importance of the role that humans play in their lives of the Fauna chimpanzees. Upon arrival at Fauna, the chimpanzees lost no opportunity to attempt to grab or poke any human within reach. After five years, however, the chimps seem to be much more trusting of their human caregivers. We have found that human/chimpanzee interactions can also promote socializing within the chimp group. For example, a human may begin grooming one chimpanzee through the caging, and other chimps will approach and begin to groom one another. Play between humans and chimpanzees often turns into chimpanzee/chimpanzee play as well.

Jean was a chimpanzee that was considered "unretireable" by many of the employees at LEMSIP because she was withdrawn and exhibited many abnormal behaviours. Today, Jean often asks to be groomed and scratched by humans by pressing her back against the caging, and she is learning to play with the other chimpanzees.

Structural enrichment

Structural enrichment consists of permanent and semi-permanent aspects of the chimpanzees' environment. This is perhaps one of the most obvious areas of improvement from the laboratory life. The chimpanzees, instead of being confined in 5x5x7 foot cages, now have a great deal more room and more choices within their physical environment. Unless we have closed off a particular area to clean, most of the chimpanzees have their choice of being either outside, in a large playroom, or in a smaller front cage nearer to where the humans generally are.

An important aspect of the Fauna building is the height provided. The building is over 30 feet high and the back play areas have walkways all the way around that are about 15 feet off of the ground. All areas have benches, jut-outs, platforms, and climbing structures so that the chimpanzees never have to be on the ground — some chimps at Fauna rarely ever touch the floor. Other examples of structural enrichment at Fauna are: swings, tires, wooden picnic tables, pools, crow's nests, cargo nets and culverts hung so the chimps can climb in them.

Our newest area is equipped with a bathtub with working faucets, bay windows, and an outdoor covered patio. While we do encourage species-typical behaviours such as brachiating and climbing by providing ropes, hoses, trapezes, and ladders, many of the chimpanzee residents are older and not very agile. Therefore, there are also stairs with handrails to make getting from one area to another easy and safe. One popular structure that Fauna borrowed from CHCI is the "Shaky Tree". This is a moveable "tree" made of telephone poles and steel bars. It allows the chimps at Fauna to move across the back play areas, provides many resting surfaces, and is a favourite tool in displays for a couple of the male chimps.

Object enrichment

The main purpose of object enrichment is to alleviate boredom and provide the chimpanzees with things to do. Some captive settings hesitate to provide certain objects because it doesn't look "natural" for chimpanzees to be looking in mirrors, holding stuffed animals, or flipping through magazines. If they were not in a captive setting, chimpanzees would be traveling great distances, foraging for food, and living in dynamic and large social groups. Captivity is in itself unnatural, so captive settings should not hesitate to provide the chimps with things to occupy their time.

We have found that the chimpanzees have individual preferences for what is interesting to them, so we provide a wide variety of objects. Examples of objects regularly given out include: purses, necklaces, stuffed animals, brushes, clothes, blankets and sheets, towels, balls, all types of containers, mirrors, toothbrushes and toothpaste, musical instruments, painting supplies, paper, crayons, kiddy pools, children's playground equipment, cleaning supplies such as buckets, scrub brushes and squeegees, magazines, newspaper, cardboard boxes, and toys of all kinds. We often incorporate object enrichment into theme or party days and decorate the playrooms or outside areas with streamers, Christmas trees, piñatas, or whatever fits in with the theme. It is a challenge to keep enrichment new and interesting, but the benefits to the chimpanzees are obvious.

Observing which objects are used most and by which chimpanzees helps us to evaluate our enrichment program. We have found that certain objects are almost always used. For example, many of the chimpanzees enjoy cleaning, so we provide bowls or buckets of soapy water and brushes several times during the week. Some chimpanzees are less likely to use enrichment objects, but this does not mean they don't "need" enrichment or should not be given the opportunity to choose to use enrichment. Pepper, for example, just a few months ago, put on a necklace for the first time in her five years at Fauna. Since that incident, she has put on clothing and has worn a stretchy hair tie around her neck.

Food enrichment

Food is one of the most exciting things in the life of a captive chimpanzee. Chimpanzees in the wild spend several hours a day foraging for food, celebrating a newly discovered fruit tree, and eating with friends. Chimpanzees in laboratories live primarily off of protein biscuits. As a sanctuary, we feel we must do our best to bring variety and excitement into the chimps' diet. We give the chimpanzees at least 20 different types of food each day, but no two days do they get the same combination of foods. The chimps eat fruit smoothies (fruit blended with soy milk, water or juice, and protein and/or health supplements), fresh fruit, raw and cooked fresh vegetables, dried fruit, soups, stews, cereals, baked goods, nuts, juice, tea or other hot drinks, pasta, crackers, sandwiches, and many other foods and treats.

In addition to enriching the chimps' diet itself, presentation of food is important to consider. This might be as simple as giving the food out in containers such as boxes, bowls, or bags, or setting up a party with food as one component. Food can also be presented to mimic natural foraging behaviour. Dipping feeders, where the chimpanzees must "fish" for peanut butter or applesauce in a tube mounted outside the cage, simulates the way in which chimpanzees catch termites in parts of Africa. Instead of handing out lettuce and bananas, food is sometimes tossed on top of the cages where it must be picked through the wire mesh. Techniques such as these prolong meal times, which are naturally high points of the day. They are also a form of mental exercise, as many food puzzles require skill and logic. Many chimpanzees enjoy strategizing and most chimpanzees are happy to work for food, even when food is readily available.

The Fauna Foundation is committed to enriching the lives of its' non-human residents. We hope that we have been able to give Shape of Enrichment readers some idea of the challenge of enriching captive chimpanzees and perhaps given some of you ideas for enriching non-humans.

Want to read more on enrichment? Check out the original enrichment information that formed the source material for this article, which includes more information on the experiences of individual chimpanzees.