TITLE:
Environmental Enrichment and Its Effect on the Welfare of Two Asian Elephants in Africam Safari Wildlife Conservation Park (Puebla, Mexico)
AUTHORS:
Martha Trinidad Pérez Ramírez, Nora Garcez Mercado, María Rebeca Rojas Ronquillo, Marco Antonio Alarcón Zapata, Melina Maribel Ojeda Chi, Carlos David Pérez Brígido, Abigail Tabarez Rojas
KEYWORDS:
Asian Elephant, Animal Welfare, Environmental Enrichment, Behavior
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Animal Sciences,
Vol.13 No.4,
October
25,
2023
ABSTRACT: Animal welfare is important in zoos to maintain the physical well-being and
psychological health of individuals. An animal is considered to have welfare if
it has good nutrition and also expresses its innate behavior, including
sensations and feelings experienced as a result of physical health. The objective of this
study was to evaluate the effect of environmental enrichment on the behaviors
of two Asian elephants in a wildlife conservation park. The behavior of two
Asian elephants, a 46-year-old male and a 59-year-old female, was observed.
Behavior was measured by quantifying the frequency, latency, and duration of behavioral actions. Measurements were done with ad libitum sampling
during 5 days of testing, then observations were recorded with focal sampling for 25 days with environmental enrichment and
25 days without enrichment. Data were analyzed with the Chi-square
statistical test using the statistical program SPSS 20, observing significant
differences (P the application of
environmental enrichment. The frequency of maintenance behaviors was higher
when environmental enrichment was provided, and the frequency of social
conducts (affiliative and agonistic) decreased. In fact, the behaviors most
frequently presented by elephants with and without environmental enrichment
were definitely maintenance behaviors. The environmental enrichment program
helped to reduce the duration of abnormal behaviors and increase the frequency
of typical behaviors of the species. It also increased independent movements
within the exhibition area and helped to know each of the elephants
individually in order to apply each enrichment combination according to their
needs.