The Effects of 3D Printed Animal Enrichment with Foraging and Activity
2016-2017 Engineering Design and Development on the Phoeniculus Purpureus Species
ABSTRACT
The Denver Zoo approached the Northglenn High School Engineering Capstone class to create
an enrichment device that would go into an exhibit inside Bird World. This device would have to
meet a criteria set by the zookeepers as they are the ones who would have to set and clean up the
enrichment device in the exhibit. Each group chose a Denver Zoo bird such as the green wood
hoopoe, to create a type of enrichment that would heighten the birds natural instincts, and give
the bird something to interact within their enclosures. The team had to research the birds
background and types of enrichments that already exist for the bird, in order to develop ideas
about the type of enrichment the group would like to produce. In an attempt to achieve a
successful product, the group designed, tested and implemented a product into the bird's
enclosure for it to interact with. The group created an enrichment with three different containers
that could hold food or small treats. The bird then had to manipulate the containers to get the food
inside. After the first attempt of designing and testing the enrichment, the team made a few
adjustments to better fit the focal birds needs. This device has shown a significant increase in the
birds foraging as well as activity levels when compared to when there was no enrichment in the
enclosure. The team members created a presentation to show the zoo enrichment project to a
panel of people including: teachers, zookeepers, and volunteers. The group has also had to create
a poster that would reflect their overall project and enrichment device.
BACKGROUND
The Phoeniculus purpureus, otherwise known as the green wood hoopoe, is a species of bird that is indigenous
to Sub-Saharan Africa. It is in the Phoeniculidae (wood hoopoe) family and has a phylum of Chordata. This is a
very small bird with a height of 34 cm and which weighs around 83 grams on average. This bird is known for
being quite noisy as well as being highly sociable. In the wild, they tend to gravitate in small flocks of 4-15
birds.Typically the green wood hoopoe likes to eat insects. They tend to forage mainly on tree trunks and
branches, probing and searching for food while occasionally descending to the ground. Here are some food items
that have been recorded in the birds diet: Insects such as coleoptera (beetles), lepidoptera (moths), termites,
hemiptera (bugs), orthoptera (crickets and grasshoppers), hymenoptera (wasps, bees and ants), odonata
(dragonflies), spiders, and centipedes; also reptiles such as geckos, lizards, and frogs; and plant products such as
strelitzia nicolai (coastal strelitzia) seeds, acacia seeds, nectar, avocado, and other fruits. Green wood hoopoes are
very sociable birds which are usually seen in small flocks of 4-15 birds. They climb trees in a jerky fashion which
is similar to woodpeckers; often dropping along the trunk and then clinging to the bark with their claws. These
birds are generally known as being one of the noisiest birds. They also have a musky scent they produce that is
often used for defense from large predators. These birds are highly territorial with each small flock usually
defending the same large area throughout the year. Green wood hoopoes typically live in the savannah, open
woodland, palm groves, acacia thornveld and wooded garden areas. They live only in Africa. They mainly reside
in wooded habitat from sea level to 2,743 m.
METHODOLOGY
The Green Wood Hoopoe team followed the following process:
Denver Zoo visited students with enrichment project on 11/5/17
Students break into specific bird groups
Generate initial design concepts
Team visits the zoo on 1/9/17
Team narrows down ideas and creates initial prototypes on 1/18/17
Team called the zookeepers to pitch their idea and get approval to continue on 2/8/15
The Cap-It-To-Ya first official prototype was 3D printed
Team went to the zoo and had the first installation of the enrichment 2/15/17
Team came back together and made a few adjustment to the design of the enrichment
Team went to the zoo again for the second and final installation of the enrichment 3/8/17
Team came back together to evaluate and analysis the data taken on each installation day
Northglenn HS STEM 601 W. 100th Place Northglenn, CO 80260
PROBLEM
The Denver Zoo contacted Northglenn High School and asked the team to develop a
form of enrichment to heighten a bird's natural instincts and give the birds something to
interact within their enclosure, as a form of enrichment for the species. Two zoo
personnel gave an animal enrichment introduction session to the engineering students in
October. The zoo selected five different bird species and assigned this team the wood
hoopoe.
CONCLUSIONS
The Cap-It-To-Ya Enrichment project overall has showed significant improvement in the
wood hoopoe activity and foraging skills. When comparing the base data where the enrichment
is not in the exhibit the focal animal, Dietrich, is active as the wood hoopoes are very energetic
birds. When comparing data from the non-enrichment tables to the enrichment tables, Dietrich
hopped more with the enrichment not in the exhibit showing the focal bird hop 17 times on
January 9, 2017. While the focal bird foraged more when the enrichment was in the exhibit
which was shown right away with the February 15, 2015 at 1 pm data. The bird foraged four
times in 5 minutes. This shows that Dietrich was active both times, but seemed to use more
problem solving skills by foraging instead of hopping. While Dietrich remained active with and
without the teams enrichment, the team would still consider the enrichment a success.
Remember, the goal was to enhance and develop the birds natural abilities, and provide
constant changes in its environment. By implementing the enrichment, there was a change in
the birds environment, and enhanced its natural abilities by giving it a creative way to figure
out how to get his food. The enrichment made it challenging for the bird to get to the food
located inside the shapes. The team would also consider this a success because of the increased
bird interaction inside the exhibit. When Dietrich would get a food from the enrichment, he
would often share it to the female bird, thus increasing their rapport.
RESULTS
There are two types of data that can be taken when researchers are looking at animal behavior.
The first is quantitative data which shows the amount of times the bird does an action. This can be
used to see the frequency of certain behaviors that the animal conducts in a certain amount of time.
Qualitative data, or otherwise known as Ad Lib Data, is the data taken of the birds actions written
down step by step until the observation period ends. Observation codes are one to two letters that
are used to shorten an action. After the initial(s) are used for an action, the team decides on a
definition that will be used to describe the action. This data was taken by the team during each
installation of the enrichment device in the wood hoopoe exhibit. This data shows an overall
growth of activity and foraging as the enrichment device was placed inside the exhibit. The bird
interacted with the enrichment which increased its activity levels as intended.
IMPLEMENTATION
Some changes made over the time of the first prototype to the final design was the color
(because green was a more natural color), making the holes smaller (due to the bugs
falling out), and the team thought about adding a perch to help the focal bird, Dietrich, get
to the food. The team left the perch off because Dietrich did not need the perch.
Since the team accomplished the goal of enhancing and developing the birds natural
abilities by creating the enrichment item Cap-It-To-Ya, the team recommends keeping the
enrichment item in the bird exhibit. Keeping the enrichment item in the exhibit will allow
the birds to maintain a high level of activity. Having the enrichment item in the exhibit
will also allow the birds to interact more. If the zookeepers feel like other birds could
benefit from this enrichment item, they can also 3D print multiple copies of the design.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Denver Zoo, Tom Schermerhorn, Amy Lear, Maureen Cleary, Jessica Freeman,
Michael Cengia
WORKS CITED
TheDenverZoo. YouTube. YouTube, 2009. Web. 09 Dec. 2016.
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Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG (eds) 2005. Roberts - Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John
Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.
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