Scenario: Imagine you are working as a caretaker who is responsible for the husbandry of a captive animal. You are tasked by your boss with completing an Enrichment Report that details the animal’s use of enrichment items. Ensure you review the “How to Format: Enrichment Report” page for details on how to properly format your report. Each of the 6 tasks from your boss contributes to a section of the report (i.e., Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, References).
Task 1 (Introduction): To pick the species of focus for your Enrichment Report, remember back to the Week 3 Learning Materials. You chose to read one resource from an area of your interest (Wildlife Rehabilitation, Farm Animals, Wild Animals/Zoo, or Companion Animals /Laboratory).
Choose an animal species that falls under that area and list the animal and its scientific name (Genus species or Genus species subspecies) within your introduction. For example, if you read a Farm Animal article then you could choose the domestic chicken, with the scientific name of Gallus gallus domesticus.
In one paragraph, briefly describe the natural habitat of this animal and any other information that is relevant to your report (e.g., evolutionary history).
Task 2 (Methods): As the caretaker at your husbandry job your boss tasks you with determining the most-preferred option of enrichment for this animal species. In your methods section, name two options of enrichment items you choose to compare and list them as Enrichment Option 1 and Enrichment Option 2. Next, name one behavior for each option that is promoted with this form of enrichment and list it as Behavior 1 and Behavior 2. These are your behaviors of interest. End this section with photos of your animal engaging in both behaviors (you should have 2 photos, one for Behavior 1 and one for Behavior 2). See the How to Format: Enrichment Report page for examples. Not required- but if you choose, you may also include photos of your proposed enrichment items as a separate figure!
Task 3 (Results): You decide to set out each enrichment item and observe if the animal engages in the behavior of interest (i.e., interacts) with the item or not. You decide each enrichment will be set out for a total of 24 hours per item. A time point is recorded once every hour for 8 hours, 3 days in a row. You return every hour to determine if the animal interacted with the enrichment item or not. If the animal did interact with the enrichment item they were assigned a “1” for that session. If the animal did not interact with the enrichment item they were assigned a “0” for that session. The data you collected are presented below. Do not alter the data, use the data as it is provided.
Enrichment Option 1
Enrichment Option 2
Behavior 1
Behavior 2
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
1
0
1
Task 3 continued: As part of your job you are asked to calculate results for both behaviors. For the results of both Behavior 1 and Behavior 2, report the behavior frequency (# of times the behavior was observed overall) and the percentage of observation sessions in which the animal interacted with the item (frequency / # sessions * 100%). In the results section, list the frequency and percent session interaction for each of your two behavior options.
Task 4 (Results): Create a graph to show your boss. In your graph display 2 bars, one displaying the % session interaction for enrichment option 1 and the other displaying behavior % session interaction for enrichment option 2. Enrichment Items should be along the X axis and % time along the Y axis (out of 100%). Include a title for your graph, labels on the X & Y axis, and clearly indicate which bar refers to which enrichment item.
You may use Excel, Numbers, or an online chart making program. A free online program for creating a bar graph is located here Links to an external site.and directions for using this free program are below.
Click the “Bar Graph” tab. Write a graph title and fill in “Enrichment Item” for the horizontal label and “ % Session Interaction” for the vertical label.
For “Horiz. data type” chose “Data labels” and just put a blank space in the “Data label” line (you will be labeling your data in the step below).
Choose “2 bars” for the number of lines. For the “bar1 data value” write the result you got for behavior 1, and write “Enrichment 1” where it says Bar1 to identify the data. Repeat for bar2 including the result for the other enrichment item.
Save your graph to include in your assignment document
Task 5 (Discussion): If the animal’s most-preferred enrichment option is defined as the item they interact with the most frequently, which enrichment item do you propose as the best option to your boss and why? End the report to your boss by detailing in 1-2 paragraphs what physical, emotional, nutritional, and/or mental benefits the most-preferred enrichment item can provide for the animal. Describe why providing the preferred enrichment item is an essential part of the animal’s husbandry and welfare.
Task 6 (References): Include at least 3 relevant references in APA 7 style so that your boss can refer to these for future reading.
