Environmental Enrichment

Environmental enrichment influences spatial learning ability in captive-reared intertidal gobies (Bathygobius cocosensis)

Behavioural plasticity is an advantageous trait for animals living in dynamic environments, and can be induced through learning. While some behavioural traits are innate, others are framed by experience and learning during an individual's lifetime. Many studies have investigated cognitive...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Fish, Other Fish

Citation: Carbia, P. S., Brown, C. 2019. Environmental enrichment influences spatial learning ability in captive-reared intertidal gobies (Bathygobius cocosensis). Animal Cognition 22(1), 89–98.

Here puppy, chew on this: Short-term provision of toys does not improve welfare in companion dogs

Retail dog toys are often provided to companion animals to provide cognitive and physical stimu- lation and improve the animals' quality of life. These toys, sometimes known as “enrichment toys”, have been shown to play a role in increasing appetite...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Dog

Citation: Chan, K., Arellano, C., Horowitz, A. 2023. Here puppy, chew on this: Short-term provision of toys does not improve welfare in companion dogs. Animals 13(21), 3340.

Cognitive enrichment and welfare: Current approaches and future directions

Cognitive enrichment” is a subset of enrichment that has gained interest from researchers over the past decade, particularly those working in zoos. This review explores the forms of cognitive enrichment that have been attempted for laboratory, farmed and zoo animals...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: Clark, F. 2017. Cognitive enrichment and welfare: Current approaches and future directions. Animal Behavior and Cognition 4(1), 52–71.

Mothers, environment, and ontogeny affect cognition

The book “Folk Physics for Apes” remains a fascinating book about the way one captive peer-group of chimpanzees understand the world in which they grew. However, the very special living conditions these seven individuals faced prevent any generalizations to the...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Chimpanzee, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Boesch, C. 2020. Mothers, environment, and ontogeny affect cognition. Animal Behavior and Cognition 7(3), 474–489.

Structural enrichment for laboratory mice: Exploring the effects of novelty and complexity

Providing structural enrichment is a widespread refinement method for laboratory rodents and other animals in captivity. So far, animal welfare research has mostly focused on the effect of increased complexity either by accumulating or combining different enrichment items. However, increasing...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Bohn, L., Bierbaum, L., Kästner, N. et al. 2023. Structural enrichment for laboratory mice: Exploring the effects of novelty and complexity. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10.

Shelter color selection of juvenile swimming crabs (Portunus trituberculatus)

Color preference testing for animals is a prerequisite for optimizing facilities and ensuring animal welfare in aquaculture. Swimming crabs (Portunus trituberculatus) are aggressive, and shelters are often installed in ponds to reduce the high mortality rate caused by their agonistic...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Crustacean, Invertebrate

Citation: Zhang, H., Zhu, B., Yu, L. et al. 2022. Shelter color selection of juvenile swimming crabs (Portunus trituberculatus). Fishes 7(5), 296.

Adapted original music as an environmental enrichment in an intensive pig production system reduced aggression in weaned pigs during regrouping

In intensive swine production systems,, the practice of regrouping unfamiliar pigs is common, often leading to aggressive behavior. Although the effect of different musical genres composed for humans has been evaluated in pigs to mitigate aggression, there have been few...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Alvarez-Hernandez, N., Vallejo-Timarán, D., de Jesús Rodriguez, B. 2023. Adapted original music as an environmental enrichment in an intensive pig production system reduced aggression in weaned pigs during regrouping. Animals 13(23), 3599.

Impact of environmental complexity and stocking density on affective states of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Environmental condition, such as environmental complexity or stocking density, can directly or indirectly influence animal emotion and ultimately, affective state. Affective states of animals can be assessed through judgement bias tests, evaluating responses to ambiguous situations. In this study, we...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental Enrichment, Housing, Stocking DensityAnimal Type: Fish, Trout

Citation: Anderson, M. G., Campbell, A. M., Kuhn, D. D. et al. 2022. Impact of environmental complexity and stocking density on affective states of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Animal Cognition 25(5), 1331–1343.

Olfactory stimulation as environmental enrichment for domestic horses—A review

Horses constantly face several challenges inherent to the domestic environment, and it is common for the expression of their natural behavior to be drastically limited. Environmental enrichment has been suggested as an alternative to improve the captive situation of domestic...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Bini de Lima, A. C., Sebastião da Fé, V. C., Palermo Hernandes, M. S. et al. 2023. Olfactory stimulation as environmental enrichment for domestic horses—A review. Animals 13(20), 3180

Body tactile stimulation reduces the effects of high stocking density on the welfare of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

High stocking density is used in aquaculture to optimize farming. However, such strategies can stress territorial fish by increasing aggression, thus harming the fish welfare and productive performance. Here, we tested the effect of long-term tactile body stimulation (TS) on...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Stocking DensityAnimal Type: Fish, Tilapia

Citation: Gauy, A. C. dos S., Bolognesi, M. C., Gonçalves-de-Freitas, E. 2023. Body tactile stimulation reduces the effects of high stocking density on the welfare of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Fishes 8(6), 320.