Effects of different types of environmental enrichment on the behaviour of captive leopards

Environmental enrichment has been recognized as an important strategy for captive animal management. The present study was conducted at the Parco Faunistico La Torbiera (NO) to investigate the effects of three types of environmental treatment on the behaviour of four captive Leopards. Subjects in this study were: an adult female clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), two adult snow leopards (Panthera uncia), a male and a female, and an adult male Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis). The experiment consisted of enrichment treatments with pre-enrichment (baseline) and post-enrichment observations. The treatments were blood icicles (some with bovine bone pieces), logs and rope balls (some scented with faeces from either small ruminants or tapirs). The study took place over a 4-week period. The effects on the leopards’ behaviour and activity levels were measured and recorded using animal focal sampling and continuous recording. Data was analysed using nonparametric statistics (SPSS 23.0, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). The behaviours that showed a significant variation when presented with enrichment were enclosure exploration, marking and out of sight behaviour. All animals spent more time (p<0.05) sniffing the enrichments rather than rubbing against them or holding the objects in their mouths with teeth. Moreover, they spent more time (p<0.05) interacting with unscented rope balls than with any of the other objects. Significant differences in exploring and marking the enclosures after enrichment introductions, as well as in the duration of object interaction were found among the four animals. This study shows that providing captive leopards with a variety of inexpensive, easy to administer enrichment items has beneficial effects on animal welfare, increasing the utilization of the environment and providing opportunities for positive expression of natural behaviours.