Enriching Zoo-Housed Ring-Tailed Lemurs (Lemur catta): Assessing the Influence of Three Types of Environmental Enrichment on Behavior

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Environmental enrichments are frequently used in zoos and aquaria to enhance animal welfare by adding or changing enclosure features and providing animals with new stimuli. We tested three types of enrichments on a zoo-housed group of Lemur catta to assess the integrated effect of enrichment items and environmental and individual factors on the animals’ behavior. We collected data from June to September 2013 using the continuous animal sampling method for a total of 107 hours of observation. We observed the lemurs across five conditions (i.e., baseline, food-related, physical, auditory enrichments and no enrichment provided). We found that enrichments decreased stress-related behaviors, whereas the other behavioral patterns were mainly influenced by environmental and individual parameters. Our results confirmed the importance of applying multivariate research methods to properly evaluate enrichment programs and provided the hosting institution with key information to improve the lemurs’ husbandry and care. ABSTRACT: Environmental enrichment is a management tool used to promote positive animal welfare by stimulating species-specific behaviors and providing animals with opportunities to exert choice and control over the environment. Our study aimed to evaluate the combined effect of three enrichment types and environmental/individual factors (i.e., individual age and rank position) on the behavior of six adult Lemur catta hosted at Pistoia Zoo (Italy). We collected data from June to September 2013 using a within-subject experimental design consisting of five conditions: Baseline, Food-based enrichment, Physical enrichment, Auditory enrichment and No enrichment provided. We conducted six 30-minute observation sessions per sampling day (total = 107 h). We recorded the animals’ behavior via 2-minute focal animal sampling per individual per observation period and analyzed data with Generalized Linear Models. The study group only performed normal species-specific behaviors. Enrichments decreased stress-related behavioral patterns, whreas environmental and individual factors influenced the other recorded behaviors. Our study confirmed the usefulness of employing an integrated methodological approach to enrichment assessment for enhancing captive lemur care.