All Animal Care cast members are expected to understand and articulate the enrichment philosophy and expectations.

• Animal, staff and guest safety should always be the first consideration in the development and implementation of enrichment initiatives.
• The program should be proactive (e.g., do not wait until an animal is showing stereotypic behavior; instead provide an environment in which the animal is less likely to do so), as well as reactive where necessary.
• The program should cover all taxa represented in the collection.
• Successful enrichment programs must be fully integrated into the animal management program, and supported at all levels of the institution. The establishment of a comprehensive enrichment framework ensures that the programs are not dependent on a few key people, but are part of an institution’s goals.
• The program should involve all relevant staff members (it’s everyone’s job to enrich), including directors, curators, veterinarians, scientists, nutritionists, horticulture, and maintenance representatives, as well as Animal Care staff; all have responsibilities for providing animals with an enriched environment.
• Enrichment is a process, not an object or event.
• We can use enrichment to improve physical and psychological health by increasing desirable behaviors through choices and variety in the animals environments, and in so doing, promote animal welfare and provide the best guest experience.
• Each team should work towards the goal of creating and maintaining enrichment plans for every animal in the collection utilizing the Enrichment Framework (SPIDER – Setting goals, Planning, Implementing, Documenting, Evaluating and Readjusting).
  • Setting Goals: All enrichment initiatives should be developed with a behavioral goal in mind. The plan should be based upon the animal’s biological, social, cognitive needs, contingent upon encouraging species appropriate behaviors and activity budgets, and mediated by the animal’s individual history.
  • Planning: Enrichment initiatives should allow animals to have choices and control within their environment (e.g., if the animal is hungry, it can search for food; if it’s frightened, it has a place to hide). Enrichment initiatives should consider all aspects of the animal’s environment (i.e., taking a holistic approach). It is mandatory for keepers/aquarist/trainer to submit enrichment initiatives to their managers for approval. Zoological managers must ensure that approval has been given before enrichment is implemented.
  • Implementing: All areas need to implement their enrichment programs in a systematic written format (calendar or like) that is saved for a five year period.
  • Documenting/Evaluating: The effectiveness of the enrichment initiatives at achieving their behavioral goals should also be documented on the Daily Report System.
  • Readjusting: Teams are required to discuss enrichment as a part of the agenda of their regular meetings.