Background and Raft Ideas

This summer I have had the chance to be part of an animal enrichment project, sponsored by UTC, at the Chattanooga aquarium. Initially, we met with the enrichment director of the aquarium, Sara Carlton, who explained to us what we would be doing and what animals we would be working with. The options were macaws, crows, alligators, penguins, and otters, each with their own behavioral issues that the aquarium wanted to work to adjust. After a few visits to the aquarium we had our options narrowed down to the crows, alligators, and otters as both types of birds we not on active display and would be harder to observe without distracting them. We met as a group a few more times with the professors and decided that the otters would be the most practical to work with, because of the behaviors they exhibited and because of a higher chance that enrichment would actually affect these behaviors. The otters at the aquarium tend to play in their exhibit for a little while after they are rotated in (they are put into the exhibit in interchangeable groups of three, in shifts) but then they retreat to the door in the back where the keepers come in, also where they are not visible. The aquarium mentioned that they would prefer the enrichment we implemented to attempt to get the otters down into the visible part of the exhibit for the majority of their shift. 

The main pool where they want the otters to play.

A smaller pool at the end of a waterslide that the otters can land in.

Initially we thought about hiding food in different places when the otters were fed, but they already do this as a public enrichment activity in the middle of each shift. So we came up with the idea that we eventually presented to the aquarium staff, that of a wooden raft or rafts that could be put into the pools at the bottom. The idea was to put holes that they could climb through, nooks that food could be hidden in, and to provide a place for the otters to relax in the visible portion of the exhibit. They approved the idea and gave us a list of materials we could use to complete our rafts, including types of wood and methods of building that would not disturb the exhibit. Currently we have the wood (pictured below), and we have begun construction on the rafts.

The cedar logs that will eventually become the raft, partially hollowed.

Initially we thought that we could hollow them out to make something that the otters could climb or chase each other through, however as we found today there is simply too much woo on the interior for it to be able to float. So we went back to earlier designs and plan to cut the logs up and make a raft out of the pieces so it will be much lighter and more buoyant. This also allows us to add an undertow that the otters may use to pull the raft where they want it to go, and maybe even include holes for food to be hidden in but the design will become clearer as we work with the wood. We also start observation this week (my day is Sunday) where we will observe the otters behavior and create a baseline by which we can see the difference, or lack thereof, in the inclusion of the raft in the exhibit.