Selecting and Testing Environmental Enrichment in Lemurs

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dc.contributor.authorFernandez, E.J.
dc.contributor.authorTimberlake, W.
dc.date.issued2019
dc.description.abstractEnvironmental enrichment has become a standard tool for improving the welfare of animals in zoos. Two critical steps in the manipulation of environmental enrichment are (1) selection of objects/procedures and (2) evaluation of their effects. In this study, we examined the selection and evaluation of feeding enrichment for four species of lemur. Experiment 1 used a paired-choice preference assessment to divide eight food items into high- and low-preferred categories. Experiment 2 separately assessed the effects of high- versus low-preferred items (placed in bamboo dispensers) on the behavior of two of the species in the preference assessment. Both high- and low-preferred items increased general activity and overall enclosure use, with high-preferred items having a greater effect than low-preferred items on most measures. The results suggest that preference assessments can serve as useful tools in selecting potential enrichment and that enrichment testing is important in evaluating the significance of these preferences.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityEduardo J. Fernandez, William Timberlake
dc.identifier.citationFrontiers in Psychology, 2019; 10:2119-1-2119-12
dc.identifier.doi10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02119
dc.identifier.issn1664-1078
dc.identifier.issn1664-1078
dc.identifier.orcidFernandez, E.J. [0000-0001-5444-6604]
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2440/145971
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherFrontiers Media S.A.
dc.rights© 2019 Fernandez and Timberlake. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02119
dc.subjectanimal welfare; enrichment; lemur; paired-choice; preference assessment; zoo
dc.titleSelecting and Testing Environmental Enrichment in Lemurs
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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