Enrichment

Environmental enrichment is a vital procedure for the husbandry routines of the Endangered Wolf Center (EWC).  Environmental enrichment can be provided in a variety of ways including:  habitat, sensory, food, introduction of novel items, and training.  Some of the animals at the EWC have very specific enrichment criteria.  This is because they are species that have the possibility of being reintroduced into the wild.  The red wolf and the Mexican gray wolf are two species that are allowed enrichment items only from their natural environment.  African wild dogs and maned wolves can have more of a variety of enrichment because there is currently no reintroduction plan for those species. 

Whenever the staff enters an animal’s enclosure, we often provide them with habitat enrichment.  Keepers will often replace den boxes, fill in holes, remove limbs that have fallen from trees, and sometimes build mounds for the animals.  This stimulates the wolf’s natural curiosity and they will often come over to investigate as soon as staff exits the enclosure.  This investigation includes urinating and defecating on the new objects to claim ownership. 

Sensory enrichment includes items that stimulate the senses of:  smell, taste, touch, hearing and vision.  At the EWC, we prefer to use spices and fruit extracts to encourage the canids’ natural great sense of smell.   Some scents are very popular (like peppermint extract), while other scents (vinegar) are very unpopular.  When the wolves are interested in a scent, they will often scent-roll in the area of the scent.  Scent-rolling is thought to mask the wolf’s natural scent and make it easier to sneak up on prey.  It is also thought to advertise to the rest of the pack that there is something interesting nearby.  The wolves themselves provide their own sensory enrichment:  howling, playing, and just living in a pack often provides plenty of enrichment. 

Our canids’ favorite form of enrichment is food enrichment!  We are very lucky to be associated with the St. Louis County Bow Hunters, a local hunting club, who provide venison for our wolves to enjoy.  This gives our wolves the valuable opportunity to participate in group feeding.  The younger pack members receive valuable lessons on pack social structure from older pack members when they are eating together. 

Introducing novel items allows an animal to mimic natural behaviors in the wild or mentally challenge an animal.  These items are usually combined with food-related enrichment.   For example, our maned wolves receive large Kong toys to chew on.  Staff members will often put a little portion of their diet in the toy to stimulate the animal to investigate and attempt to get their food out of the toy.  We have to be very careful with novel items, never introducing anything that could harm any of our animals.  Also, Mexican gray and red wolves cannot receive any item that does not come from their natural environment.  A novel item for a Mexican gray or red wolf might be a piece of meat frozen in a block of ice.