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Duluth, Minn. (AP) - Dave Thompson can use some of the most
unlikely objects - a discarded mirror, an empty Mountain Dew
bottle, an odd-shaped piece of PVC tubing - in his work.


      "When I go to Menards, it's a lot different from normal
people," Thompson said.


      Thompson is a zookeeper at the Lake Superior Zoo who specializes
in primates. He uses donated materials and a few odd purchases to
provide the Angolan colobus, red ruffed lemurs, callimico and
cotton-top tamarins with new experiences and challenges daily.


      He recently propped up a mirror donated by one of the zoo's
interns among the tamarins - tiny, high-energy monkeys from
northwestern Colombia. The little creatures peered at their own
images with fascination. 


Meanwhile, the bigger, more deliberate
colobus investigated the puzzles Thompson had left them - including
an upside-down, partially closed bottle and a cross-shaped PVC
tube, both with treats inside.


      At Zoo Central, meanwhile, zookeeper Jessica Jasek was working
with the parrots, hanging homemade toys made partially from egg
cartons inside the cages. A blue-and-gold macaw named Sam was
making quick work of the cardboard portion of his toy.


      It's all good fun - and serious business. Zoo professionals
refer to the daily efforts to stimulate their animals' senses as
enrichment, and it's one of the things the Lake Superior Zoo must
show it's doing to regain the American Association of Zoos and
Aquariums accreditation it lost in 2006.


      Beyond that, enrichment makes the zoo a healthier, happier place
for the animals, staff and visitors alike, said Leslie Larsen, the
zoo's director.


      "Enrichment is part of animal care now," said Larsen, who has
been in the industry for 20 years, at the Lake Superior Zoo for 14
years and the zoo's director for just over a year. "It's every bit
as important as giving them their food and water and their clean
habitat. This is all the physical and mental stimulation that keeps
these animals healthy in captivity."


      Thompson ticks off the senses that need to be stimulated: taste,
sight, smell, touch, sound. Some of the senses are more important
with some animals than with others. Smell isn't significant for
parrots, so Jasek concentrates more on sight, touch and sound. But
it's extremely important to the big cats, so when the sheep or
llamas are done with their straw, it's hidden in the big cats'
area.


      "Then they get to smell that and play with that," Larsen said.
"They get pretty excited and then they realize the prey animal's
not there. Then they're, like: 'Oh, you didn't bring us the real
thing.'"


      Animals also can be stimulated by perfumes and colognes. A
recent story in the Wall Street Journal told of a study done by the
Bronx Zoo that concluded that zoo's cheetahs spent the most time
with Calvin Klein's Obsession for Men - 11.1 minutes - and the
least with Estee Lauder's Beautiful - 2 seconds.
      


Although the Lake Superior Zoo hasn't broken it down to that
extent, zookeepers have used perfumes, as well as catnip, spices
and herbs for such animals as the big cats, wolves and reptiles,
Larsen said.


      The focus on enrichment even affects decisions about which
animals to include in the zoo in the first place.
     

 "Elephants shouldn't live alone in captivity," Larsen said.
"They're social animals. We had an elephant many, many years ago.
A lot of people remember Bessie the elephant, and she had a great
life here. But this zoo isn't equipped to house a group of
elephants. So we made a decision not to do that."
     

 Animals that are having their senses stimulated won't exhibit
what's known as stereotypical behavior, such as pacing in a
repeated pattern, Larsen said. That kind of pattern not only
reveals distressed animals, it's a turnoff for visitors.


      "They don't want to see stereotypical behavior," she said.
"They may not know what that word is. It doesn't matter. It's
disturbing, because if you saw a person doing that you'd know that
they weren't in the best state of health. So of course we want our
animals to feel good and feel like they're in a safe and comforting
and healthy environment. And we want visitors to know that about
our animals as well."

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Minnesota News

Greater Minnesota

Zoo professionals are using a wide variety of objects to stimulate their animals' senses. It's known as enrichment, and it's one of the things the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth must show it's doing to regain the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums accreditation it lost in 2006.

Duluth zoo offers unlikely objects for its animals

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