Providing nutritionally appropriate diets that also deliver behavioural enrichment is a key component of modern zoo animal welfare management.
Zoo feeding represents one of the most significant welfare leverage points in captive animal management. Providing adequate nutrition is a welfare minimum; providing nutrition in ways that support natural foraging behaviour is the welfare optimum. The elimination of foraging time in captivity — replaced by food delivered in a bowl or at a fixed point — removes a behavioural activity that typically occupies the majority of active time in wild conspecifics. Dietary enrichment addresses this by presenting food in ways that require effort, skill, or search: scatter feeding, puzzle feeders, browse tied at height, frozen enrichment items, and whole prey for carnivores. Alongside behavioural benefit, dietary enrichment improves nutritional variety and maintains dental and gastrointestinal health. Modern zoo nutrition integrates both nutritional and behavioural goals in diet planning.