The Importance of Evaluating

The evaluation of enrichment, using information collected from the various methods of documentation, provides a way to find the answers to the questions you and your team have about the way the animals interact with the enrichment. Evaluation typically involves looking at patterns and trends overtime. Once these questions have been answered, action can be taken to modify various aspects of the enrichment (e.g., amount, time when provided, who it is provided to, how often it is provided, if it is provided again, etc.). This ensures that the animals receive the most appropriate enrichment in the most appropriate ways. The evaluation process is a necessary part of the SPIDER framework, and your staff should routinely schedule time to discuss the findings of any documentation that is being carried out.

How to Evaluate

There is only really one way to evaluate enrichment use, and that is to take the information collected for a particular enrichment initiative (e.g., the noteworthy events) and see how the animals’ response to that initiative changes over time. Single observations do not usually provide enough information to be able to assess the success of an enrichment initiative (unless the animal uses it in a way that risks its own safety – in which case that enrichment may never be provided again). Basing information on just one day may lead to an incorrect assessment of the enrichment being made.

Information can be evaluated by:

• Making a written summary of observations;
• Summarizing the information by putting it in a graph or a table;
• Or simply, discussing any information collected at a staff meeting. You should ask “does the information we have collected answer our question?”, and then discuss if more information is needed, or if there are now different questions that can asked based on the information you have.

Evaluating Projects

The word ‘enrichment’ suggests that anything that we provide the animals is automatically enriching – this is not the case. It is true that initiatives that are never used by animals may make the environment more complex, but it is debatable as to whether these initiatives can really be classified as ‘enrichment’ since they do not provide opportunities for the animal to exhibit species-appropriate behaviors, or provide the animal with any control over, or choices within its environment. The process of documentation and evaluation of enrichment makes us accountable for the enrichment we provide, and how and when we provide it. Evaluation provides a way to justify the use of the term ‘enrichment’ by ensuring that animals are provided with initiatives that they do use, and that are provided to them on a schedule that promotes the greatest, species-appropriate, behavioral response. In response to the question ‘did the enrichment work?’, it is often possible to state how it worked, who used it and in what way, and provide documentation to support this.