Why are enrichment practices in zoos difficult to implement effectively?
Open accessAbstract
The good intentions of zoos to introduce enrichment practices that stimulate animals mentally and physically are not always achievable. Changes to the policies and procedures in organisations are difficult to fulfil for a range of reasons frequently investigated in change management literature. The implementation of these changes can be the source of ineffective attempts to generate positive interventions in organisations. In this study, we investigate whether interventions to improve animal management in zoos through enrichment are subject to implementation impediments. Qualitative data gathered from interviews with 23 keepers working with big cats across 12 zoos globally provided valuable insights into the barriers and enablers to the implementation of enrichment. Keepers participated voluntarily and worked in accredited zoos across Australia, New Zealand, Europe, south-east Asia, South Africa, and the United States of America. Thematic analysis of the data revealed five key themes that described some of the challenges zoos and keepers experience when implementing enrichment for big cats, in their words: “let’s just be cautious”, “purely surviving”, “struggle to understand the goal”, “can’t always provide what you should”, and “judge the effectiveness”. These themes provide additional insights into potential areas for improvement, including greater attention to the benefits of enrichment for animal mental health and increased transparency around enrichment objectives in zoos.
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Impediments to the provision of enrichment include conflicting priorities, lack of available time, and uncertainty about which enrichment practices are most effective.
“Impediments to the provision of enrichment include conflicting priorities, lack of available time, and uncertainty about which enrichment practices are most effective (Hoy, Murray & Tribe, 2010;Tuite et al., 2022).”
From Continuing challenges of elephant captivity: the captive environment, health issues, and welfare implications (2024) · cites this paper as Tuite et al., 2022
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- Authors
- Tuite, E. K., Moss, S. A., Phillips, C. J., & Ward, S. J.
- Affiliations
- Charles Darwin University (AU)
- Estonian University of Life Sciences (EE)
- Nottingham Trent University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Tuite, Eileen K.
- Venue
- Animals
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2022-02-23
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 554
- ISSN
- 2076-2615 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8908830
- OpenAlex
- W4212778813
- Cited by
- 22
- References
- 74
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5
- FWCI
- 4.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Animals (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Nottingham Trent University's Institutional Repository (Nottingham Trent Repository) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Conservation, Ecology, Wildlife Education
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Museology › Museums and Cultural Heritage
- Keywords
- animal enrichment, zoos, big cats, zookeepers, implementation barriers, change management, animal welfare, zoo management
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