An investigation of browsing enrichment, especially non‐leaf foraging, on giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata) at Kyoto City Zoo in Japan

Abstract

Browsing enrichment may aid in developing species-specific behaviors for giraffes managed in zoos as a means of improving animal welfare. By nature, giraffes are tree-feeding animals, including tree bark, but the extent of food other than leaves as a form of browsing enrichment has not been well investigated. Therefore, to investigate the effectiveness of non-leaf foraging, three giraffes at the Kyoto City Zoo in Japan were observed for 228 h from May 2019 to February 2020. In conjunction with behavioral instantaneous sampling, tree use (landscape tree or enrichment branch) and plant part (leaves, twigs, or barks) were recorded by the 1-0 sampling method. There was no significant change in the foraging behavior on the