Which of the following is NOT a reason to provide environmental enrichment?

Providing environmental enrichment is primarily aimed at enhancing the well-being of animals in research settings. This concept encompasses several goals, such as encouraging natural behaviors, reducing stress, and ultimately improving animal welfare.

Encouraging natural behaviors refers to offering animals opportunities to engage in activities that fulfill their innate needs, such as foraging, climbing, or social interaction. This is vital for their mental and emotional health, helping to prevent boredom and the development of stereotypic behaviors.

Reducing stress is another key aspect of environmental enrichment. By providing stimuli and opportunities for engaging with their environment, animals experience a more stimulating life, which can help lower stress levels. Stress can adversely affect both their health and the validity of experimental outcomes, making this an essential component of care.

Improving animal welfare is the overarching goal of providing environmental enrichment. Enhancements to the living environment ensure that animals have better quality of life, which is a critical ethical obligation in research settings.

On the other hand, supplementing nutritional deficiencies is not a primary objective of environmental enrichment. While it’s important for animals to receive appropriate nutrition, this falls outside the scope of enrichment, which is focused on enhancing behavioral health and well-being rather than directly addressing dietary needs. Thus, this option stands out as not