Enrichment is the foundation of good husbandry practice for any animal’s mental health, but enrichment can become an enormous cost when your bird destroys their items on a daily basis. Rescued animals are at their most vulnerable, and while rescue organizations continue to strive to provide the best possible welfare to these animals, the costs can add up really quickly.

In an effort to ensure that no rescue parrot is without a productive (or destructive) outlet, a group of zoo workers formed the Enrichment Outreach Project (EOP) to fundraise and donate hand-made enrichment items to local parrot rescues. They will be sending raw bird-safe materials to partner facilities on World Parrot Day (May 31st), and there they will set up an interactive booth for guests to learn more about parrots and help build the enrichment as a workshop. At the end of the day, they will collect all of the enrichment, and take it directly to  local parrot rescues. The beneficiary of this years event will be STAR – Saint Louis Avian Rescue.