Great apes demonstrate sophisticated tool use in the wild that must be supported through appropriate cognitive enrichment in captivity to maintain behavioral and psychological welfare.
Great ape cognitive welfare depends on providing opportunities for problem-solving, learning, and innovation that match their extraordinary intellectual capacity. Bowl feeding that eliminates the foraging and processing challenges of natural food acquisition severely underutilizes cognitive capacity. Enrichment programs that require tool use, problem solving, and memory provide genuine cognitive engagement that improves behavioral welfare. The contrast between the behavioral repertoire of wild chimpanzees and under-enriched captive individuals illustrates the substantial welfare cost of inadequate cognitive provision. Investment in cognitive enrichment programs is a welfare requirement for the most intelligent non-human animals.