Global Overview of Environmental Enrichment Studies: What Has Been Done and Future Directions

Abstract

(1) Background: Environmental enrichment (EE) is a management principle aimed at meeting the needs of animals under human care by identifying and providing essential environmental stimuli to contribute to the integrity of their psychological and physiological well-being. Studies on EE have been carried out worldwide, but consolidated information on how it has been used, who it has been used for, how it has been evaluated, and what gaps still exist in the subject is scarce in the scientific literature. This study assessed, employing a systematic review, the global scenario of research into EE in animals kept under human care over the last 17 years, answering the above-mentioned questions. (2) Methods: A search for EE papers was carried out in the Web of Science and Scopus databases from January 2005 to December 2021, resulting in 2002 articles from which information was extracted. (3) Results: Results showed an increase in the number of articles published on EE, especially in farms, but studies in laboratory environments continue to be more frequent. Mammals and birds are the most studied animal groups. Cognitive enrichment is the least utilised by researchers. The number of publications by researchers from countries in the southern hemisphere is low. (4) Conclusions: Although the technique of EE is being widely used, it is still focused on certain groups of animals in certain captive environments and carried out mainly in the northern hemisphere of the planet. Therefore, the gaps pointed out here need to be filled by future studies.

Keywords

• captive environment
• animals under human care
• animal welfare
• animal management