Species:  Nile Hippopotamus
Scientific Name:  Hippopotamus amphibius
Name:  Maggie
Gender:  Female
Age:  33 years

Favorite Food/Treats/Enrichment:  Maggie loves melons, peanut and butter sandwiches, ice treats, boomer balls, and 55 gal. barrels.

Fun Fact about this species:  Although they are very large hippos can run up to 30 mph. They can hold their breath for 5-6 minutes under water. Hippos also have a unique feature in their thick skin, they secrete a reddish substance that acts as a natural sunscreen to protect them from the hot African sun.

Location:  Hippos are found in the wetlands, lakes, and rivers in tropical areas of Africa and are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN RED LIST.

Other Interesting Info:  Maggie was born at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and is the grandmother of Zambezi and Kassi who also live there. She enjoys her daily training sessions where she can get her teeth brushed by the keepers while they work on other important husbandry behaviors.
 

Enrichment of exotic animal species in zoos is important for several reasons.  Ideally it exercises the mind and body of the animal.  These animals have to work hard to survive in the wild.  Many animals have to graze, browse, hunt or forage for food for many hours every day.  This often involves being physically active and mentally challenged for a large portion of their waking hours.  We try to simulate this in captivity as often as possible. 

If an animal is given a special feeder that requires tool use or manipulation in order to access the “treats,” this is more challenging, time consuming and rewarding than simply putting the treat in a food bowl.  If we freeze pineapples and cantaloupes for the bears, it keeps them busy as they gnaw and dig at them.  All the primates like bobbing for apples or other fruits.  Large rawhide bones keep the lions busy for long periods, while blood-sicles are fun for the tigers.  The otters get fresh oysters or clams to spur on their feeding instincts.  The coatimundis like to dig through a pile of mulch to find some hidden mealworms, and many animals will work for food-rewards by doing trained behaviors that can assist with veterinary procedures.  Many animals, such as goats, apes, elephants, monkeys, giraffes, and bears, enjoy getting browse.  Browse consists of tree branches cut from non-toxic trees.  Most animals eat the leaves, and some even eat the bark as well.  Paper mache piñatas are fun for the animals, whether or not “treats” are hidden inside.  For tree-dwelling species, such as orangutans, an ice treat (which is frozen kool-aid with nuts, fruit and berries inside) on top of their enclosure or skylight keeps them active and arboreal for hours.

There are other ways to provide enrichment that do not involve food. An overfed animal is not a healthy animal! Scent enrichment is a great way to temporarily change an animal’s environment…the better the animal’s sense of smell, the more effective this is.  Lemurs do a lot of scent marking in the wild, so they react to perfume sprayed on their trees.  The wolves show a lot of interest in buck urine.  The komodo dragon gets very active when vanilla extract is sprayed in her exhibit.  When the lions receive a big pile of elephant feces in their enclosure, they will actually roll in it. In the wild they do this to mask their own scent, so prey species don’t smell a lion approaching (they smell an elephant!).  We “recycle” a lot of animal materials. The primates enjoy playing with colorful bird feathers and the feline species will hunt down patches of goat hair or snake sheds hidden in their exhibit. By changing an animal’s environment, they are stimulated to explore and use their senses.  Simply turning on a sprinkler or playing tropical bird calls can be very enriching.  Another non-food type of enrichment is “toys”.  This can vary widely; boomer balls and other sturdy plastic products come in all shapes and sizes.  A new log can be loads of fun for the mangabeys or bears to debark and find insects.  A milk crate can keep the orangutans busy for hours…we have observed them using milk crates as stools, hats, they will stuff their entire body in a crate, and they have even hauled large quantities of mulch from outdoors to indoors, using a milk crate.  Grain bags are fun to rip up or use as an umbrella. Finally, it is very enriching to change an animal’s perching, trees, or rope.  The apes use their firehose hammocks and hanging barrels all the time, and many animals enjoy sunning or climbing on a hanging platform.

Every enrichment idea is first submitted as a written proposal, then approved by the animal management and veterinary staff, to make sure that the item or idea is safe for the animals. 
Aside from safety factors, animal enrichment ideas are only limited by a lack of imagination! 

Remember…

• Clean, gently-used and recycled items are welcome!
• Monetary donations are also appreciated.  There are some special enrichment items that we can purchase only through Zoo supply companies.

• The American Zoo and Aquarium Association  -www.aza.org
• The American Association of Zoo Keepers - www.aazk.org
• Pikes Peak Community College Zookeeping Program -www.ppcc.cccoes.edu/course/nrt.htm