Making a Tiger’s Day: Free-Operant Assessment and Environmental Enrichment to Improve the Daily Lives of Captive Bengal Tigers (Panthera tigris tigris)
A five-minute free-access test can spot strong reinforcers for any learner, even a 400-pound tiger.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Seven Bengal tigers lived at a zoo. The team wanted to know what they liked.
They set up a free-operant test. Tigers could sniff scents or play with toys any time they wanted.
Staff watched for 30 minutes. They counted how long each tiger touched or smelled each item.
What they found
Every tiger had clear favorites. Cinnamon and Obsession for Men cologne topped the scent list.
Plastic balls and boomer balls were the most-played toys.
The test took one short session per cat and gave keepers a quick preference list.
How this fits with other research
Hoffmann et al. (2019) used the same logic with adults. They ran an MSWO with app-icon cards instead of scents. Both studies show one quick test can find strong reinforcers.
Fine et al. (2005) and Chang et al. (2016) went one step further. They took the top picks and delivered them automatically to boost walking. The tiger study stops at finding the items, but the pattern is the same.
Together these papers form a chain: test → find favorite → use favorite to shape behavior. The tiger work adds a new species to this chain.
Why it matters
You can borrow this zoo method for any client who cannot speak. Set out items, let the learner choose, and watch for 10-15 minutes. The items they touch most become your reinforcers. No trials, no prompts, just free choice.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
There are more captive tigers in the United States than there are wild tigers in the entire world. Many animals under human care engage in problem behaviors such as excessive grooming and aggression, although the origin of these behaviors is typically unknown. Environmental enrichment may mitigate these issues in captive animals of all kinds. In order to individualize enrichment experiences, the current study used a free-operant assessment procedure to establish a menu of most preferred play items and scents among 7 Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) housed at a sanctuary in southwest Missouri. Each tiger was tested 3 times with scents (cinnamon and Calvin Klein Obsession perfume) and play items (boxes, balls, leaves, and pumpkins). The importance of rigorous assessment of presumed reinforcers among captive wild animals, as well as the difficulty of effectively assessing tigers while ensuring the safety of both the participants and researchers, is discussed.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2020 · doi:10.1007/s40617-020-00478-z