Temperate weather browse provision considerations
Citation
Maslanka MT. 2025. Temperate weather browse provision considerations. In Treiber K, Brooks M, D’amato-Anderson J, Nylander J, Eds. Proceedings of the Sixteenth Conference on Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition, AZA Nutrition Advisory Group, Oklahoma City, OK.
Abstract
Browse is what we refer to as edible vegetation including twigs, branches, shoots, and leaves. It is arguably the closest food item to the “natural” diet of browsing herbivores that is available to feed in zoos (nutrients, fiber, secondary plant compounds, etc.; Watts, 2019). Its inclusion in diets has been noted to fulfill behavioral needs and reduce behavior stereotypies, promotes natural foraging behaviors and satiety, allows for improved maintenance of gastrointestinal tract health and function in browsing herbivores, and helps offer opportunities for dietary choice and control (Ramont et al., 2024). Despite its many reported benefits, browse supply is often limited, particularly in urban zoos and during winter in temperate environments. During a time when resources are often limited (i.e., staff, labor, vegetative material to use, finances, etc.), zoos strive to maximize the browse provision to the animals that need it within their diets in a cost-effective and efficient manner. This brief paper will discuss some of the current considerations for browse provision in zoos. This material was presented as part of an AZA Annual Conference session of nutrition sustainability in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
MaslankaBrowseZN2025S6.pdf 171 KB
