AnS 490-H: Part I; Building a Portable Environmentally Enriched Wagon for a North American Porcupine
AnS 490-H: Part I; Building a Portable Environmentally Enriched Wagon for a North American Porcupine Animal Industry Report
ASL R 0 1 2
0 Iowa State University , USA
1 This Small Ruminants is brought to you for free and open access by the Animal Science Research Reports at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Animal Industry Report by an authorized editor of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information , please contact , USA
2 Wagon for a North American Porcupine , " Animal Industry Report: AS 664, ASL R3262
Madison Deal Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ans_air Part of the Animal Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Deal, Madison and Johnson, Anna (2018) "AnS 490-H: Part I; Building a Portable Environmentally Enriched
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AS 664
handle shaft were light brown and the casters black. Cork
tiles were displayed as olive green with the floor mat
beside it blue. Finally, the tree trunk and branches were
white. The base with the tree trunk was considered the
primary platform and the other side the secondary
platform.
Summary and Implications
The objective of this project was to design and construct a
portable environmentally enriched wagon for a North
American Porcupine with the intent for it to be used during
educational presentations at the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and
Aquarium. The wagon design was built using SolidWorks. A
nine-step process was developed to build the wagon: (1) cut
the boards to proper length and secure with corner braces (2)
place border around primary and secondary platforms (3) add
casters to primary boards and pegs to secondary board (4)
connect U-brackets to board underside for dowels to fit (5) cut
and add plastic base to boards (6) place cork tiles on
secondary board (7) secure tree trunk and branches to primary
board (8) secure hide next to tree (9) add woodchips to
primary board. It took approximately 53 hours with two
persons to construct the wagon and cost ~$63. In conclusion,
the construction of the portable environmentally enriched
wagon was successful. It was cost friendly and completed
within the desired time frame.
Introduction
A zoo is where people come to see and become
informed about a variety of animal species. During
scheduled times zookeepers give educational presentations
that cover pertinent subject matter areas, for example
training exercise, nutrition, and health. This opportunity
allows close interaction between person and animal.
However, during these educational presentations, it is
important to provide an environment that allows the animal
to engage in natural species specific behaviors. Therefore,
the objective of this project was to design and construct a
portable environmentally enriched wagon for a North
American Porcupine with the intent for it to be used during
educational presentations at the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo
and Aquarium.
Materials and Methods
The project was approved by Alysia Hess and Omaha
Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium
Design Phase: The wagon design was created using
SolidWorks (Figure 1). Each color represented a different
construction item. The dark brown represented plywood
for the borders and platform. The base legs, handle, and
Amount
Two
Two
One Box
One Package
One Package Two
Forty
One
Six
One Box
One Box
Four Boxes
One
Supplies: After the wagon design was completed the next
step was to identify smaller supplies (Table 1). Most of
the supplies were provided by the Omaha Henry Doorly
Zoo and Aquarium. Those items were not given a cost
amount, hence the total spent was ~$63.
Construction: A nine-step process built the wagon: (1) cut
the boards to proper length and secure with corner braces
(2) place border around primary and secondary platforms
(3) add casters to primary boards and pegs to secondary
board (4) connect U-brackets to board underside for dowels
to fit (5) cut and add plastic base to boards (6) place cork
tiles on secondary board (7) secure tree trunk and branches
to primary board (8) secure hide next to tree (9) add
woodchips to primary board (Figures 2 and 3).
Environmental Enrichment Aspects: The portable
environmentally enriched wagon was designed to meet the
five enrichment categories. Although only one item is listed,
an item could be cross-listed over several enrichment
categories (Table 2).
Occupational: Climbing and
climbing promotes eating
exercise
Tree branches Nutritional: hide Climbing and
food on branch, as foraging
well as on wagon
Woodchips Physical: substrate Comfort
that the animals
are familiar with
Secondary platform
Training Social: Give direct Human
contact to keeper interaction
whilst still being
visible to public
Cork tiles Physical: change New, softer
in substrate that is flooring
new to animal
Note: Sensory enrichment may not have been listed in any of
these items, but that was accomplished during the
educational presentations by a food reward given by the
trainer to the animal. In addition, it is pr (...truncated)