A tiger sniffs scent left by a cub.
Environmental enrichment is utilized within zoological institutions to ensure animals are physically and psychologically healthy. The goal of an enrichment program is to promote species-typical behavior while allowing some control for animals within their environment. The Behavioral Biology Division of the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research is currently conducting a research project examining individual and species enrichment preferences for large felids (lions, tigers, and cheetahs) at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park (see post, Big Cat Preferences, Part 2). Based on some preliminary results, we are interested in learning more about different scents (perfumes) that attract the animals and promote the behavior of exploration.
The research project will include examining the behavior of our large felids when presented with a variety of colognes and perfumes. The goal of these scents is to increase our cats’ exploration and activity levels. At the same time, we will send samples of these scents to a chemist to determine their chemical make-up to learn the properties that animals respond to the most. Through this research, we hope to discover the elements of these scents that encourage species-typical behavior so that we can continue to enrich the lives of the animals within our facilities. In addition, information gained from this study can be used to enrich felids at other zoological institutions. With the link between animal welfare and reproductive success, it is important to ensure the highest levels of care for the animals within zoological institutions as many of these species are conservation dependent.
We can’t do this alone. We’re once again calling upon the generosity of our fans and fellow conservationists to help us in this cause by donating old or unused cologne and perfume. If you have colognes and perfumes that you would like to donate to the study, please send them to:
San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research
Attn: Lance Miller
15600 San Pasqual Valley Road
Escondido, California 92027
Thanks so much for your support. Your generosity will improve the lives of our animals and help us work for a better future for the wildlife of our planet!
Lance Miller is a scientist for the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research.
Update: You may also bring your perfume and cologne donations to the Zoo or the Safari Park! Just take them to our Guest Services window. We are also accepting monetary donations for the study through our Animal Care Wish List.
Update from Lance, January 31, 2011: I would like to say thank you again to everyone in the San Diego region and throughout the United States who has sent in perfumes and colognes. The cats will ultimately benefit from all your kind donations as we continue to learn more about environmental enrichment for these amazing animals.
Can we drop them off at the Safari Park when we visit? Do we need to bring only new & unopened bottles, or can you use ones that were opened once and put away unused?
Mae, we are trying to arrange for a drop-off area at the Park and Zoo; we will post more information shortly. Any new or leftover perfume that you are willing to donate would be wonderful.
Are there any guidelines that must be followed to send perfumes/colognes through the mail? How cool that SDZ can use them! Now I’m talking some OLD bottles here. What fun! I’m helping…..LOL
Moderator’s note: We’ll find out about drop-off and mailing guidelines. Thank you!
Diana, please just make sure they are in something that protects them, and also a sealed bag in case they leak or break in transport.
Two scents on the way. Two out of three of my felines approved the scents. The other one backed off (neither smelled edible).
USPS tracking number 0310 2010 0000 2257 3020
Moderator’s note: Thank you, Suzanne!
Will definitely help out! Tigers are and have been my favorite since I can remember. That was even one of my Christmas gifts was an adoption of the tiger cubs! So excited to assist in your efforts. Since I am in Northern California, I will figure out the best way to get this to you. My parents live in SD so maybe I can have them help me out.
Moderator’s note: That would be wonderful, Kim!
I sell avon and have a ton of old perfume samples that have been discontinued. Would the scented wipes work for the project? it is a great way for me to get rid of these old samples and put them to usefulness. Plus dont have to worry about the glass jars.
Kasi,
Thank you so much for volunteering to send samples. We will defenitly take the scented wipes, however I think we will need liquid samples to run the chemical analysis. I will have to check with the chemist we are working with on this project.
I’m gathering mine upand mailing them on Monday! So glad i can be a part of this! I used to live in SD and was a Zoo member for 18 yrs. I miss it so! The tigers are my absolute favorite!
Moderator’s note: That’s wonderful, Amy, thank you!
Thank you to everyone that has already volunteered to send perfumes, your help is greatly appreciated!!!
It seems that you would not want to use people’s perfumes on the the cats. These are composed of chemicals that are never seen in the wild. Essential oils, however, are made from real plants, flowers, etc and can affect behavior in positive ways. Animals actually seek these different plants out, in the wild, depending on what they need. We all know about dogs/cats that eat grass or other plants so they can get rid of something they ate that is bothering them.
Just a suggestion.
Diane,
Thank you for your concern. We will actually be using the perfumes within the exhibit and enclosures but not on the cats themselves. Colognes and perfumes have been used in zoological institutions for quite some time to increase scent marking, exploration, and other behaviors. The goal of this project is to determine the elements (e.g., lavender or rose) of those fragrances through chemical analysis that they are attracted to so that we can determine how best to enrich the animals. We also have an enrichment approval process that requires veterinary services, animal care, and nutrition services to approve all items before we provide them for the animals to make sure they are safe.
Is there any further info on when and where we can we drop them off?
Moderator’s note: Yes! You may drop off any perfume or cologne donation at the Guest Services windows at either the Safari Park or the Zoo. Just tell them it’s for the Big Cat Study. Thank you!
Interesting! I hope that everyone has a great weekend! I also hope that they enjoyed last weekend and their New Year’s celebrations and had a great week last week,as well as this week! Sorry about the typo!
Hi.. any news on whether or not we may drop it off at the park? I am going this weekend to visit from los angeles
Moderator’s note: Yes, just bring your donation to the Park’s Guest Services window. And thank you, Jackie!
Also, will scented oils be accepted? i have a few i would like to donate.
Lance responds: We are always looking for new items to enrich the animals within the collection. If you would like to donate scented oils as well, that would be great. However, I cannot promise that we will use them, as we will need to go through the enrichment approval process (see above) before we can use them.
Interesting Lance!
I volunteer with a facility that houses a habituated Mountain Lion. ‘Shasta’ loves perfumes that are vanilla based and will whistle and call to my friend who wears a vanilla based one, following her up and down the enclosure rubbing on everything. I wear citrus based and he could care less.
Good Luck1
I am going to the zoo this Sunday, could I give my perfumes to customer service???
Moderator’s note: Yes, you may bring them to our Guests Services window. Thank you!
This is interesting, Lance. I would like to know how felids are drawn by different scents. My question is if these donated scents are used and analyzed, can this be used to determine what scents/chemicals can/cannot be worn around them?
Example: I am a male visitor, observing the tigers. What should I wear, or not wear, that would trigger a, say, hostile reaction, or a playful response? Should I stay with Brut? Or switch to Aqua Velva that day? It may seem funny, but I’ve noticed that different people evoke different responses, and it may not be just the emotional aura emitted by the person.
Thanks , keep up the good work!
Thomas,
Great questions, although I don’t think we would recommend certain colognes to wear to the Safari Park, but you never know what you might find. That is one of the best parts of doing research.
What a GREAT way to start the New Year by helping out the Zoo and the big cats. You can clean up your old perfumes and colones, and help at the same time.
Ok, so it took awhile to get the box, and get to the post office, BUT I did get three small bottles on their way to you today!
Moderator’s note: We appreciate the effort, Diana S!
Please explain why you are using commercial perfumes and not essential oils. It would narrow things down to use individual oils and save the expense of analysis. I am just curious. It will be very interesting to hear the results.
Maddie,
Thank you for your question. While we will need to pay for analysis of the samples, there are many different reasons we are using perfumes instead of oils for this analyis. I will not get into all the specific details, but some of the reasons include diversity of elements in fragrances and number of scientific trials needed for individual oils. We already know that certain species respond to some perfumes and hope to learn more about why they spend varying amounts of time with the different fragrances.
Is the SD Zoo still accepting perfume?
San Diego Zoo responds: Now that we have had such amazing response with donations of different colognes and perfumes, it is time to raise money for the second part of the story. Once we know which scents the cats like, we will need to analyze each one to find out the exact properties of the fragrances they like. Each $10 donation will go toward the total cost of a chemical analysis.
Are you still accepting donations for this study?
Moderator’s note: No thank you, Lance received plenty from generous readers.