As the world's tallest mammal, the giraffe needs special care when kept in captivity. A proper diet and regular exercise is one part of the care equation, but it takes more than that to keep a giraffe mentally healthy. The techniques zoo keepers use to make zoo life more natural for the animals are known as enrichment.
Foraging and Social Groups of the Giraffe
Environmental enrichment, also known as behavioral enrichment, is defined by the Honolulu Zoo website as techniques that "improve or enhance zoo environments for animals, stimulating them to investigate and interact with their surroundings." There are many techniques that apply to all captive animals, such as forging and naturalistic environments.
For giraffes, forging is a more complicated task than for other animals. In the wild, giraffes use their long necks to eat leaves from some of the tallest trees. It's difficult to include enough of the trees in a zoo exhibit, so giraffes have to be fed creatively. Enrichment Online has many good ideas for making feeding more challenging and interactive for captive giraffes, such as an ice ring with treats frozen into it, or a bucket with holes cut in it stuffed with hay and leaves. Hanging hay feeders also allow a giraffe to stretch their necks to eat.
Natural environments allow an animal to feel more comfortable and release stress. Shelter, natural social groups, and appropriate plants and ground materials all play a part. According to National Geographic's Giraffe, giraffes naturally live in small groups. An isolate giraffe can become lonely and depressed, leading to self-destructive behavior such as refusal to eat. The Toronto Zoo website also shows the simple shade structure the giraffes enjoy. Such a structure helps them stay cool in the summer heat, and allows them some privacy from crowds.
Utilizing the Amazing Tongue
One common form of stereotypy in giraffes is the licking of random, non-food items. As explained in Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin, "stereotypies are defined as abnormal behaviors are that repetitive, invariant, ... and seemly pointless." While the random licking behavior is not usually directly harmful to the giraffe, many animal specialists think that all stereotypy indicate a lack of mental stimulation.
Many zoos are allowing giraffes to exercise their tongues by building food containers that require manipulation to open. In an research article in issue 3, volume 27 of Zoo Biology, researchers from Zoo Atlanta report the findings of a study that used complex feeders. In the study, the three giraffes all had stereotypic random licking. The results showed that feeders requiring the giraffe to use its tongue to retrieve food helped eliminate the behavior.
Large PVC tubes or hard plastic balls with holes cut into them also play an important role in giraffe enrichment, according to the American Association of Zoo Keepers forum. These objects are stuffed with leafy branches, hay, and treats such as sweet potato or onion. Or the zoo keepers smear sticky substances on the inside of the objects, so the giraffe can lick them off.
Training a Giraffe
The Toronto Zoo website also lists it's training program that help mentally engage the giraffe. A normal exhibit, even when rearranged or changed often, offers little opportunity for learning. Training an animal can help replace the mental challenge that animals receive in the wild.
The training giraffes receive at the Toronto Zoo also helps when it is time for a check up from the zoo veterinarian. The animals are introduced to a wooden stall, and once they are comfortable with being confined in it the handlers get the animals used to being to examined.
This way, when the zoo veterinarians need to get a blood sample or check a giraffe for injuries, the animals are already used to being confined and touched. The Toronto Zoo giraffes also receive target training. The giraffes learn to touch their noses to a specific target, usually an orange square the zoo keeper holds on a long pole.
Zoo Keeper Use Various Techniques
In many ways, giraffe enrichment is the same as enrichment for any other captive animal. Giraffes benefit from foraging, proper shelter, social grouping, and natural habitats. However, some special techniques are employed in many zoos that keep giraffes. These include specific challenges for the giraffe's long and flexible tongue, and training to make sure a giraffe doesn't panic during a routine veterinary exam.
For an overview of animal enrichment, read Behavioral and Environmental Animal Enrichment.
For more information on enrichment techniques used by zoo keepers, read Zoo Enrichment Techniques.
Sources:
The Honolulu Zoo website (http://www.honoluluzoo.org/enrichment_activities.htm)
The Fort Worth Zoo's Enrichment Online (http://www.enrichmentonline.org)
The Toronto Zoo website (http://www.torontozoo.com/meet_Animals/enrichment/giraffe.htm)
American Association of Zoo Keeper's Forum (http://www.aazk.org/forum)
Zoo Biology, Volume 27 Issue 3, Research Article Tongue twisters: feeding enrichment to reduce oral stereotypy in giraffe by Loraine Tarou Fernandez 1 2, Meredith J. Bashaw, Richard L. Sartor, Nichole R. Bouwens and Todd S. Maki, Pages 200-212.
Animals Make Us Human by Temple Grandin, Wiley Press (2007).
