A quantitative assessment of the efficacy of an environmental enrichment programme for giant pandas

• Published in: Animal behaviour Vol. 61; no. 2; pp. 447 - 457
• Main Authors: Swaisgood, Ronald R., White, Angela M., Zhou, Xiaoping, Zhang, Hemin, Zhang, Guiquan, Wei, Rongping, Hare, Valerie J., Tepper, Erin M., Lindburg, Donald G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kent Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2001; Elsevier; Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Ltd
• Subjects: Ailuropoda melanoleuca; Animal behavior; Animal ethology; Bears; Biological and medical sciences; Feeds; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Mammalia; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Studies; Vertebrata; Environmental factor; Well being; Medium enrichment; Vertebrata; Animal activity; Mammalia; Spontaneous physical activity; Motivation; Captivity; Environment; Developmental stage; Stereotypy; Age
• DOI: 10.1006/anbe.2000.1610
• ISSN: 0003-3472

With the goal of enhancing psychological well-being, we developed an environmental enrichment programme for eight subadult and six adult giant pandas, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, at the Wolong Breeding Center in Sichuan, China. We used five different enrichment items, each selected because of the different behavioural opportunities they promoted: (1) manipulable plastic objects; (2) a burlap sack full of straw; (3) spruce branches; (4) a fruitcicle (apples frozen in a large ice block); and (5) a puzzle feeder. Each subject received each of the five items on three occasions, for a total of 15 enrichment sessions over the course of the 2.5-month study period. Each enrichment session was paired with a control session in which no enrichment was present. Pandas spent significantly more time active, and displayed a greater variety of object- and nonobject-directed behaviours when enrichment was present. We also found a statistically significant reduction in the rate of and percentage of time engaged in the performance of stereotypic behaviour and behaviours indicative of feeding anticipation. This effect was maintained even when pandas were not interacting directly with an enrichment item, suggesting that enrichment had a motivational carry-over effect in the aftermath of interactions with enrichment items. These results are consistent with the ethological needs model of motivation in that opportunities to perform more natural behaviour appeared to improve motivational indices of well-being. The pandas remained responsive to enrichment across the 15 trials, providing no evidence for habituation or cross-habituation. Age proved to be an important determinant of responsiveness; for example, adults, but not subadults, displayed a significant preference for feeding enrichment. Future studies will assess whether these promising initial results are maintained throughout the lives of captive giant pandas.