MULTIPLE ENCLOSURE ASSIGNMENT

The impact on animal moves and Enclosure Tree organization when this feature is used.

Multiple Enclosure Assignment allows you to put an animal or a group in to multiple enclosures at the same time. To activate this function, go to Start > Institution > Institution Preferences > Enclosure Preferences and check the Allow Multiple Enclosure Assignment checkbox.

This functionality is available only as an Institution Preference. Users cannot select it using My Preferences. As with all Preferences, it will not become active until you log off and log back in again.

You will receive a message that when this feature is active ZIMS will not automatically record a Move Out Date for the previous enclosure. This is because ZIMS does not know if the animal or group remains in the enclosure or not.

Using Multiple Enclosure Assignment may impact how you set up your Enclosure Tree. If a single enclosure only is allowed you would need to create an enclosure to capture all combinations and possibilities.

With multiple enclosures you only need to record each enclosure as you can pick one, two or three of them.

For our example you have a Nigerian dwarf goat that was placed in the Goat Stall enclosure for quarantine. You have now let him out into the Goat Holding and the Goat Exhibit enclosures. From the Enclosure grid go to Actions > Record Current Enclosure.

The following note is at the top of the page.

In short, this statement lets you know that if you record moving an animal out of an enclosure when Multiple Enclosure Assignment is active the original information recorded for the Move In to the enclosure (notes, responsible party and move in reason) will not be overwritten.

After you record the Move Date enter any enclosures the animal is being moved in to in the Destination Enclosure field (1). Once you accept them they will display as a Current Enclosure (2). Because the goat still has access to the Goat Stall you leave that enclosure checked.

When you save the record will show that the goat is occupying the stall, the holding and the exhibit all at the same time.

The stall is being renovated so the goat no longer has access to it and instead has access to Goat Stall 2. Select Actions > Record Current Enclosure. Add Goat Stall 2 as a Destination Enclosure (1). To indicate he no longer has access to Goat Stall, uncheck that enclosure (2).

The record displays the new stall and the Move Out date for the original stall.

If you need to move an animal out of an enclosure without adding a new one, simply select to View/Edit the appropriate enclosure and record a Move Out date. The record will reflect the change.

Sometimes multiple enclosures are used for a single group that occupies many enclosures. For example, you have 50 Atlantic bumpers with one record, GAN and Local ID. Ten are in Tank 1, 5 are in Tank 2 and the remaining 35 are in Tank 3. For each Tank you can record the number of occupants in the Details section.

It is important to note that when multiple enclosures are used this way, if an enclosure prescription is recorded against one of the enclosures the entire group will show as exposed to that prescription because ZIMS cannot tell the occupants of each Tank apart. In addition, Inventory Reports, Enclosure Reports and Occupants Lists do not have the ability to show portions of a group. So, in an Enclosure Report for example, each tank would display with 50 Occupants. These are important considerations when deciding to use Multiple Enclosure Assignment for one group in several different enclosures.

Revised 5 March 2025