Animals at Whipsnade Zoo given festive treats for Christmas
The animals will be digging into their tasty festive treats this weekend
Animals at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire will be treated this weekend to festive stockings, extra cuddles, and tasty snacks.
A troop of endangered chimpanzees have already gone wild for early Christmas presents from zookeepers.
The chimpanzees delved into the festive enrichment boxes to find hidden snacks, both encouraging the primates to use their foraging skills, and giving them a little something special.
Adult male Grant quickly worked out the boxes were full of snacks and grabbed as many Christmas gifts as he could, while 21-year-old Elvis enjoyed his favourite healthy treats of carrots and chickpeas.
"...put a stocking out for the tigers or give a bit of extra fish for the penguins..."
But the chimpanzees are not the only ones being treated this Christmas, all species at the Zoo will be getting their share of festivities.
Keeper George Spooner said: "Everyone's guilty of spoiling the ones they care about at Christmas and that's the same for the keepers as well."
"There's always a chance to put a stocking out for the tigers or give a bit of extra fish for the penguins so everyone gets in the Christmas spirit, and that works for the animals as well."
The keepers are hoping to keep all the animals happy, and for some species used to the cold and wet, there's hopes a Christmas miracle will bring a few snowflakes.
Mr Spooner said: "We've got a lot of animals that come from cold weather, the reindeers for example when the temperature drops below zero is their best time."
"Our tigers come from the snow, so it's always good when it snows for them to go and play in it."
However not all species cope well with the cold, so the Zoo has measures in place to ensure all animals can live comfortably during the colder months.
"For animals that aren't as well adapted to the cold, every house has heating where we can turn it up or down depending on how cold it is outside", he added.
"Every species has a very managed diet so if they needed a bit of extra food over the winter we can increase how much food they get."