Date: 3-5 November 2015

The video to the left shows my construction of, and some of the results from the incorporation of, a large, 20cm deep sand pit into the existing ground substrate of the Deer Centre's Short-Clawed Otter enclosure. Aimed as an environmental, physical and tactile enrichment facility, the sandpit was designed as a means of providing the group with an alternative substrate to carry out natural rubbing and rolling behaviours, and also to enable hiding of molluscs and other small food items to encourage digging and foraging and simulate the otters' natural method of locating prey.

This involved digging out the put as per the dimensions in the plan detailed under 'A - Enclosure Modification', before edging it with pre-treated softwood rail and corner posts and filling it in entirely using non-abrasive children's play sand. Rubbing and rolling are vitally important behaviours for all but one otter species (Sea Otter Enhydra lutris) due to their need to maintain optimum condition of their dense coat of wool hairs and guard hairs so that they can function properly to maintain core body temperatures , both directly and through the capture of air pockets within their structures. Rubbing and rolling allows otters to dry their coat off quickly after exiting water, groom themselves in full and lock in new air pockets released during dives underwater. Loose substrates such as sand are ideal for performing these behaviours, and in this case, play sand was selected due to its light, soft texture, which is important (1) for preventing abrasion and injury to the otters' highly sensitive footpads, and (2) for ensuring that hairs do not become clumped with a heavy substance which could otherwise deplete the coat and expose the otters to greater heat loss. 

The otters took great interest during the construction, and were immediately engaged upon its completion, as shown in the following short video. They have continued to utilise the sandpit frequently each day in the six months since to elicit the aforementioned grooming, rolling and play behaviours, rendering the enrichment therefore an overall success.

Candidate Signature:	Witness Signature:
Date: 5 November 2015	Date: 5 November 2015

With particularly intelligent species such as the Eurasian Brown Bear, the importance of enrichment cannot be underestimated, and they must be guaranteed as stimulating an environment as feasibly possible for their psychological needs to be met. This is more important still for the bears at the Deer Centre - a still-maturing and highly active 4-year-old (Loki) and his 12-year-old mother (Nelly), who has been taken out of the breeding programme with emphasis on stability for the remainder of her life due to the very difficult early start to life in some of her earliest collections, which left her with a degree of stereotypical-come-habitual behaviour. 

Our bear enclosure at the Deer Centre is naturally enriched, with numerous physical features such as a 6m deep pool for swimming, trees and platforms offering climbing and lookout opportunities, mixed substrates for digging, natural visual barriers, vegetation for foraging within, tearing at and eating, etc. We also introduce more novel items to their enclosure several times each week and vary these continuously to maintain their interest. 

In the photograph to the left, I am shown rolling our new Zogaball^TM - a 20kg, 20mm thick polymer ball designed for large animals - into the bear enclosure. Both bears became very quickly engaged with the ball, and though Loki had possession of it for much of the first day, both were seen interacting with it equally in the days which followed. I recorded their first reactions in the video shown below the photograph (bottom left). We have removed the ball and then reintroduced it to the enclosure several times already to ensure they do not become overly habituated to it, and this appears to be showing success. 

Thanks in part to our commitment to providing suitable enrichment for the bears, the consistency of care we are giving them and the trust we continue to build up with them, Nelly's remnant habitual pacing behaviours have now reduced by over 60% since she arrived at the Centre in May 2014 with Loki. We hope to continue to build upon this progress through our ongoing enrichment programme. 

Authentication for Photo and Video (both left):

Candidate Signature:		Date: 13 April 2016
Witness Signature:		Date: 14 April 2016