Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

This study was developed to examine the effect on environmental enrichments adapted for wolverines (Gulo gulo) in two Swedish zoos. The wolverine is an opportunistic omnivore that is part of the Swedish fauna and commonly kept animal in Swedish zoos. Being one of the less researched of Swedish carnivores, compared to wolves (Canis lupus) and bear (Ursus arctos), the wolverine is an interesting creature to develop the knowledge of. With zoos working hard to reassure their animals have an increasing welfare, the importance of enrichment and well-designed enclosures becomes more and more evident. Therefore this study was designed to understand if there is a connection between environmental enrichment and the designs of the enclosures of the wolverine. Four different enrichments was tested on four adult wolverines. The study took place during five days per zoo. The enrichments was set out during four of the days, with the first day kept clear to observe the behaviour without the impact of enrichment. The wolverines was observed each day before and after the enrichment was placed into the enclosures to compare the behaviour with and without the influence of the enrichment.
There was a very clear variation in the behavior of the wolverines. Each wolverine showed various behaviour when presented to the enrichment. Each type of enrichment also had impact on the reactions from the individuals. This may be an indication of an ability to select which enrichment that’s the most intriguing, but it may also be an effect from earlier experiences with enrichments in the different zoos. Another alternative is that this indicates the differences of the four individuals in this study. Due to the low amount of animals observed in this study it’s hard to apply the collected results on a larger group of individuals or on the entire species. However this material is a good basis to use for more projects on wolverines in zoos.