A garden of enrichment (1994)

Vermeer, J.

Abstract

The animals are spending a lot of time searching for different species of plants, not only because of their medicinal compounds but also because of their taste. Both seeking out and eating the herbs can occupy a lot of the monkeys' time. Of course, our way of keeping animals - having them roam over large areas - makes it easier to create these herb gardens, but it would also be possible in a cage environment. Here, it would work well to use the system that we use for new plants and plants that are eaten or destroyed a lot by the animals. We plant these under a piece of wire mesh with only small holes. This way, the animals can only eat the part of the plant that grows above the mesh. The plant stayed rooted and keeps growing.