Enrichment activities are just that…activities that are meant to stimulate and enrich the lives of these wild animals. For example, zookeepers may hide food inside hollow logs or other various places in the cage, encouraging exploration and hunting instincts. Sometimes they will give them puzzles and toys to ponder (think toys for fluffy and Rover, only larger). And then there is the controversial carcass feeding.
Already popular in Europe, proponents of carcass feeding feel that it encourages mental stimulation and better digestive health. Overall, they feel that it is a more natural feeding method, allowing a wild side into captivity. This type of enrichment activity, however, has just begun to catch on in America. There are concerns about increased aggression in the animals or health risks from contaminated meat. There is also the fear that visitors to the zoos may find it hard to watch a tiger ripping open its prey as it proceeds to gnaw on the innards. Hmmmm…gruesome and tasty.
The Folsom City Zoo in California (http://www.folsom.ca.us/departments/zoo/... has used supplemental carcass feeding for years now. Some of the animals enjoy it so much that they will play with a carcass for days, hiding it in trees, plucking its fur. In fact the zoo feeds some of their carnivores carcasses in order to calm them during fireworks displays that take place at the park next door.
The Folsom Zoo does acknowledge the squeamish and posts signs as to the where and when of “natural” or carcass feedings. Staff members also act as interpreters to reassure visitors and answer questions.
At the National Zoo in Washington D.C. (http://natzoo.si.edu ), visitors got a taste of the carcass feeding in 1996 when a white-tailed deer jumped into the cheetah enclosure. The body was eventually removed and the zoo continues to reject carcass feeding for the most part. The few steps they have taken towards “natural” feedings include birds of prey getting dead fish and snakes getting dead rodents.
Whether you think that carcass feeding is merely a simulation of life in the wild or a show better suited for a Roman amphitheater…you may one day be faced with a wolf consuming a dear freshly plucked from the roadside at your local zoo. Until then, happy eating.
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