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

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 differ...