A circular dog puzzle feeding toy called Foobler is being built in a large scale format to feed rhinos at the San Francisco Zoo.
Experts at the Zoo are wondering whether such a toy would encourage their rhinos to exhibit more natural foraging behaviors.
An Asian rhino named Gahati and a black rhino named Boone enjoy playing with large balls so a rhino-sized Foobler would probably be received really well by the pair, noted Jason Watters, vice president of wellness and animal behavior at the Zoo.
"If we can combine their desire to play basically soccer with a foraging goal, we can see if we can drive their interest in their environment a bit more," he said in a fundraising video.
The Zoo was able to raise $15,000 in order for Foobler to construct the rhino-size version, according to Newsweek. Watch the fundraising video below:
Using high-tech toys to improve foraging in captive rhinos from Experiment on Vimeo.
