As part of the internship each intern is required to complete a project, either by observing an animal of their choice or building a form of enrichment for an animal. I've chosen to build a moving feeder for the giraffes which will be used to encourage the giraffes to move around more on exhibit. Encouraging movement is important as it helps keep the hooves healthy, the joints supple and the animals at a good weight. The benefits of constant movement can be seen in all animals including horses where horses kept 24/7 in stalls often develop joint, weight and hoof problems and are often less sound of mind then horses turned out to graze for at least a few hours each day.
The feeder itself will be a PVC puzzle feeder (large holes in a PVC pipe with end caps on both sends) and it will be on a cable system. The cable itself has to he hung high up, at least at the height of the tallest giraffe, and covered in tubing to prevent strangulation and accidental hanging.
An example of a PVC feeder at the Brookfield Zoo.
http://www.czs.org/czs/Animal-Care/Animal-Husbandry/Orangutan-Husbandry-Manual/Enrichment-Catalog/PVC-Feeder-Tube/PVC-feeder-tube2
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