Behavioral Enrichment: by Devorah Young

A MasterCard Story – Our Chacoan Peccaries/Tagua are somewhat older and not very active. So we have been working with the Tagua on shift training, manipulation of toys, and overall socialization with people since they are a bit standoffish. What we realized with the temperatures raising is that sometimes the simplest enrichment is the most effective. We started giving the Tagua wallows about 2-3 weeks ago when the temps started climbing past 90 degrees. To our amazement, they all started using the wallows. They even used the wallows while we were around (a rare behavior indeed) and more importantly, their energy levels increased. What seemed a simple idea became one of the best enriching items we’ve given them. Cost of shovel: $20.00; Cost of labor: a lil’ sweat and tears to dig the wallows; watching our aging Tagua act young again: Priceless.

On Saturday May 2nd and Sunday May 3rd we will be celebrating our Andean Bears: Will and Rio during our annual bear awareness event Bear Bonanza!

Andean Bears live in the cloud forests of the Andes Mountains in South America. Although they live at some high elevations they are a tropical bear species and move to lower elevations as it gets cooler so they don’t hibernate. …continue reading Bear Bonanza!