The Emotional Enrichment Program
Date: 02-10-2012
Here at IEAS, it is part of our mission to give the resident animals the best quality of life we can give them in captivity through our Emotional Enrichment Program. The Program deals with the emotional well-being of each individual animal and its individual emotional needs.
Emotional Enrichment is a technique for improving and enhancing an animal's emotional life and minimizing stress, agitation, and irritation within the context of the animal's personality and biological instincts. It is a process wherein keepers, employees, and/or behaviorists create an emotional bond with the animal through either protected or unprotected contact, depending upon such factors as the personality of the animal and the expertise of the keeper/behaviorist. As the term implies, its purpose is to enrich, improve, and enhance the quality of life of the animal by conditioning and positive reinforcement, creating a bond in which the animal looks to its human caregivers as sources of security, support and comfort.
Louis Dorfman, our Animal Behaviorist, started the Emotional Enrichment Program here at IEAS, and the Sanctuary has set up a code of conduct for all staff, volunteers and visitors that gives the animals the respect and dignity they so deserve. Everything from daily operations to weekend conservation education tours are arranged to keep stress on the animals to a minimum. The Staff, Interns and Volunteers of IEAS participate in the Emotional Enrichment Program through a protected contact setting, and you can see from the pictures the results of our program and the animal’s attitudes towards their surroundings and human caregivers.
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either resentful of humans or aggressive towards humans. They did not trust humans and therefore considered humans as adversaries. With our unique behavioral enrichment program based on affection, love, and respect, you can see how their attitudes have changed.