When Disney’s Animal Kingdom first opened 1998, we hired staff from 83 different institutions across the country. Every institution had there own methods and approaches to enrichment and it became the Behavioral Husbandry Team’s task to pull all of these various approaches into one program. Today, we still recruit and hire keepers from many different zoos and aquariums and continue to develop a team approach that includes structure and consistency for the over 200 keepers involved in our enrichment program. We believe that developing and involving staff is probably one of the most important ways to create a positive and dynamic program.

In this section there are a few activities and workshops centered on animal enrichment. Please check this section periodically because we will be highlighting different activities and workshops. The activities are meant to motivate, educate, and promote team communication when it comes to the subject of enrichment.

Below are just a few of the benefits you may find by doing these activities with your team:

• Better discussions and clearer communication among team members around the subject of animal enrichment
• Increased motivation and new ideas for your enrichment programs
• Improved employee relations through effective team building
• An environment where people are open to learn

We encourage partnering with other teams at your zoo or aquarium.  If your facility has a behavioral husbandry staff, they can help facilitate these activities.