The Habituation of Captive Orangutans to Novel Enrichment Item Placement

Overview

Objectives/Goals This study was done at the San Diego Zoo in San Diego, California on a total of seven individuals: two Bornean, four Sumatran, and one hybrid cross orangutans. Experiments were done to test the hypothesis that when enrichment items are placed in the same manner and location for periods of five to seven days they will cease to be novel and enriching for the animals Methods/Materials The group varied from two to four orangutans out per day, but there were always at least the same two orangutans out every day. The four orangutans who were regularly out in the same exhibit were observed. The browse was hidden in the same location, a place the orangutans could not initially see when they were let in to the enclosure. The orangutans were observed from the time they were let out in the morning until one showed interest in the mock termite mound which incorporates the use of the browse branches to extract the treat inside (usually honey, mustard, or some other soft food). Time was measured by the following: time began when the orangutans entered the exhibit; time was noted when the orangutans passed by or picked up the browse; time was recorded and stopped when an orangutan removed the browse from the location and transported it to another part of the exhibit. Results Over time the Orangutans habituated to the new location of browse placement. there was no difference between the first exposure of the scent enrichment to the second exposure after a week of no esposure. Conclusions/Discussion The data showed that as the days passed the orangutans spent less time interested in browse. The first day of both browse studies the orangutans immediately noticed that the browse was not in its usual place, and thus they began to search for it. The next day they checked where it had been the day before. In the following days the orangutan who initially found the browse acknowledged its presence but passed by it to find something more entertaining. T-tests comparing the time of acknowledgement of the browse and the time of removal of the browse showed with a 95% confidence level that there was a significant difference for the period of time in between the acknowledgement and removal of the browse. The first days were more enriching than the following because the novelty of the placement began to wear off over time.

Awards (1)

• Category Award

Competition history

• CSEF 2002 Mammalian Biology · Entry S1002

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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