Enrichment at Home and in the Wild: Comparing Enrichment in Black-Footed Cats and Domestic Cats

Abstract

Environmental enrichment provides captive animals with stimuli needed to participate in species-typical behavior and increases the amount of time an animal spends in goal-directed behavior. It is often used in zoos to decrease the occurrences of stereotypical behaviors. This article explores responses to enrichment in two closely related species – the black-footed cat (Felis nigripes) and the domestic cat (Felis catus) – through video footage and analysis of each species’ interaction with three enrichment treatments