Chimpanzee Enrichment- Psychological

MSc Dissertation Research Project entitled "The effect of different types of enrichment on the welfare of captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and identifying preference." Conducted at Welsh Mountain Zoo.

Chimpanzees are highly intelligent animals and therefore are subject to boredom or stress, just as humans can be. Therefore we use different methods to enrich their lives in captivity.

This first week involves the category of Psychological Enrichment. This involves providing the chimpanzees with manipulable toys or objects which require the chimpanzees to cognitively solve problems or otherwise engage their minds.

For more information please email me (Charlotte McPhillips) at thechimpgirl@gmail.com or read some of this research available online:

Brent, L. and Eichberg, J. (1991). Primate puzzle board: A simple environmental enrichment device for captive chimpanzees. Zoo Biology, 10(4), pp.353-360.

Brent, L. and Stone, A. (1998). Destructible Toys as Enrichment for Captive Chimpanzees. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 1(1), pp.5-14.

Pruetz, J. D., and Bloomsmith, M. A. (1992). Comparing two manipulable objects as enrichment for captive chimpanzees. Animal Welfare, 1, 127-137.

Ross, S. and McNary, J. (2010). Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Care Manual. [ebook] Silver Spring, MD: Association of Zoos and Aquariums, pp.6,10, 56. Available at: [Accessed 1 Mar. 2019].

Special thanks to:
Elin Jones my part-time videographer,
Jenni for housing me in Wales and providing cardboard tubing for enrichment,
Claire Rigby for helping me with this opportunity,
Head keeper Stephen,
head primate keeper Beky,
The entire keeping team for allowing me to work with them,
Peter for helping me to organise the project.

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