Behavioral Enrichment of Captive Black Bears (Ursus americanus) Jasmine Gonzalez, Dr. Stephanie Allard, Dr. Julie Earles, and Dr. James Wetterer Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University

Method Results Discussion Introduction Subjects • Behavior frequencies differ greatly between all 1. As hypothesized, the bears’ behavior Ursus americanus 1. The Association of and (AZA) defines 4 American Black Bears ( ) four bears, indicating the major influence of 2 Male 10 years old individual differences was majorly influenced by the enrichment as “a dynamic process for enhancing introduction of the novel stimulus. environments within the context of the ’ 2 Females 5 years old • There is a large difference in behavioral behavioral biology and natural history.” (Association of diversity between the males and the Zoos & Aquariums, 2009) There is consensus Materials females, both before and after enrichment. • Snak’n’Trim (Heavy Duty): The snak’n’trim is a 2. Though age and sex are likely to throughout the animal care community that enrichment • The behavioral frequencies changed more ball made of hard plastic, 10” in diameter. The influence behavior, in this particular is vital to ensuring an animals best possible care. noticeably from baseline to enrichment for inside of the ball is hollow and there is a 1” Common goals of enrichment are to improve animal the males. The frequencies did not change study other factors such as individual diameter hole on the side of the ball which allows welfare, reduce potential sources of stress, enhance that much for the females during the same preference for toy, commonality of for items to be placed in, and fall out of, the ball. coping abilities of the animals and reduce/eliminate time. Four balls were used in this study, one for each environmental enrichments and abnormal behaviors. bear. • Chi-squared tests indicate that all bears personality also appeared to have an 2. is of the highest priority at any captive • Ultrak 440 Stopwatch Multimode Countdown showed a significant (p<.001) difference in effect. animal facility and as discoveries are made in the fields Timer: Specific use is explained further in the data behavior from baseline to enrichment trials. of psychology, ethology, and animal sciences support collection procedure. • The most significant difference (p<.0001) grows for the importance and effectiveness of • : The behaviors of interest were coded was found with Clark’s behavior. 3. Due to the limited number of subjects, enrichment for captive animals. An unfortunate trend, to be used throughout the study during the further testing is required to better despite the wide spread knowledge of enrichment and observation periods. understand the variables affecting its importance, is the lack of scientific studies on the • Examples of behavior frequencies and effectiveness of specific types of enrichments on Design differences in diversity: behavior. differing species. One of the goals of this study is to The independent variables are age, sex, time of examine the effects of a specific enrichment item on the year, time of day, and whether the bears receive behaviors of a single species in . the boomer balls as part of their daily enrichment. 3. Black bears are a unique species because, though they The dependent variables was the activity are technically part of the family , they rarely frequencies of the bears. hunt. Their time is usually split between foraging for food and sleeping. They thus require stimulus that greatly Procedure References Data Collection: differs from their genus counterparts. Association of Zoos & Aquariums. (2009). Retrieved March 1, • 2 Observation periods 2012, from http://www.aza.org/enrichment/ 4. Black bears are known to be very curious animals as • Summer- 6 weeks (June 19th-July 29th) well. Their motives for exploration go beyond the search • Winter- 4 weeks (Dec. 11th-Jan. 7th) Bacon, E. S. (1980). Curisoity in the American Black Bear. for food and wild bears have been known to chew on • Baseline and Enrichment phases during both Bears- Their Biology and Managment, 153-157. signs and other obviously non-food items apparently in periods Carlstead, K., Seidensticker, J., & Baldwin, R. (1991). attempt to discover what they are. (Bacon, 1980) • Observation sessions 6 days a week Environmental Enichment of Bears. Zoo biology, 3-16. Studies have also found that in captivity the natural • Alternating morning and afternoon sessions Mellen, J., & MacPhee, M. S. (2001). Philosophy of curiosity of black bears can be used as an advantage. • 1 hour sessions with focal scans every minute environmental Enrichment: Past, Present, and Future. Zoo When a new stimulus is introduced to the bear, even if • Snak’n’Trim enrichment given during second half Biology, 211-226. they are not interested in the stimulus, they tend to show of each observation period, filled with approved an increased curiosity towards their entire environment. diet (Carlstead, Seidensticker, & Baldwin, 1991) 5. This study hypothesized that the bears would become Data Analysis: significantly more active following the introduction of the 1. Behavior frequencies were calculated novel stimulus. They will show greater interest in their 2. Chi-squared test conducted looking at select overall environment. They will explore more and show a behaviors general higher activity level than they displayed previous to the introduction.

Undergraduate Research Symposium April 6, 2012