In this class, I had the opportunity to work with the Cincinnati Zoo in a variety of ways. I learned a lot about animal welfare, collecting and analyzing behavioral data, and designing enrichment. All of these things are valuable skills if I plan to continue to work in any capacity with ecology or zoology. I also got to work closely with other majors, specifically Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Design. It was interesting to see the different ways everyone's individual skillset and discipline fit into the creation of a final product. 

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I partnered with Michael Hutchings, a senior Industrial Design student who is now graduated, to create enrichment for the Malayan Tigers. I was so incredibly excited to have the opportunity to work with the tigers (all three sisters have great personalities!) and go behind the scenes. I was also the team coordinator and communicator for all three tiger groups which was good team management and professional leadership experience. This basically meant that I designed the baseline behavior evaluation and analysis process for the groups as well as kept in touch with the keepers and class mentor to stay on top of deadlines and get any questions from the group answered. The zoo staff members we worked with were extremely helpful and they made this a memorable experience. 

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Our final enrichment design was essentially a wobble platform for the tigers to use. It's made out of donated 1" acrylic, heavy duty springs, and some other materials. The thought is to increase the overall activity level of the tigers specifically in their indoor holding. This kind of worked, but even large cats get timid and it will take a while for them to get completely used to it in their exhibit. I'm really excited we got to implement a physical enrichment device for the tigers to use. Overall, I'm incredibly grateful for this experience. I had a lot of fun as well as learned important career skills. Below I will link my final report for the class (with some photos blocked out for legal reasons).