I recently came across a very cool zoo video on line when scrolling facebook - I couldn't link the video itself, so I just took a screenshot (video is linked here). It features a two-toed sloth, a fairly common animal in zoos, engaging in a behavior that few zoo visitors will have seen - taking a swim at Ouwehands Dierenpark Rhenen (Netherlands). The sloth is paddling across the surface of a large pool, while giant fish cruise underneath. A lot of folks don't realize, but as helpless as they are on the ground, sloths are actually quite good at swimming.
If I was designing a sloth exhibit from scratch, and by that I mean an exhibit just for sloths, not a large rainforest building with all sorts of species, in which sloths happen to live, I can't say that it would have occurred to me to add a big pool. Lots of climbing opportunities, sure, but swimming opportunities? Even though I know sloths can swim, it would have probably slipped my mind. Which is a mistake.
When we build enclosures for animals, we build their world, and in some cases, pre-set their behavior. What they do is what we give them the opportunity to do. If this exhibit had consisted of a single tree in the middle of a deep pool, we'd probably see the sloth swimming all the time - because what else would it do? I'm reminded of a story that Colin Tudge recorded in his Last Animals at the Zoo of a Scottish zoo that allowed a polar bear into the brown bear exhibit. The polar bear did many behaviors that we'd more likely associate with other bear species - including climbing a tree.
It's important to understand the full repertoire of an animal's natural behaviors, and to give the opportunity for the animal to engage in as many of those behaviors as is safely and practically possible. Doing so allows the animal to have as natural of a life as possible, optimal welfare, provides a more interesting and educational experience for zoo visitors, and helps preserve behavior which could be essential for future reintroduction programs.
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