East Sussex zoo animals decorate their own enclosures ready for 'Santa Paws'
Zookeepers at Drusillas Park Zoo left the animals to their own devices this year, which made for some surprisingly 'chaotic' results
Animals at a zoo in East Sussex have been trimming their trees and decking their halls in preparation for the festival season.
Lemurs, squirrel monkeys, common marmosets and sloths at Drusillas Zoo Park in Alfriston were given the unusual responsibility of decorating their own enclosures this year… with unsurprisingly chaotic results!
Resident sweetheart sloth, Flash, took to her tinsel duties very well ensuring she and Gordon had a sparkly nest box to snuggle up in, the common marmosets argued over who got to put the sweet potato ornaments on the tree, the lemurs got lost inside their new stockings, and the squirrel monkeys delighted in destroying everything in sight!
As well as providing lots of fun, activities like this form a crucial part of the Zoo’s enrichment programmes for their residents. Introducing new objects, materials, scents, and food in unusual, challenging, and novel ways keeps the animals mentally stimulated, which benefits their overall health enormously.
Keeper Amelia Jones said: “The animals really enjoy exploring these new, novel items that they wouldn’t see in their day-to-day lives, it gives them something to work out and gets their little brains working!
"As well as being great fun for us to see them playing and investigating, it’s really important that we enrich our animals in this way to encourage them to display natural behaviours and to keep their days busy and varied.”
The Zoo will be closed to the public on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, but the Park’s team of Keepers will still be caring for the Zoo’s 80+ species of exotic animals throughout the holiday.
Amelia continued: “Christmas day isn’t actually much different to any other day at the Zoo for our animals, as regardless of the holiday, straying too far from their normal routine would just be confusing for them. But, there’s definitely a different atmosphere for us all - the Keepers will be singing Christmas songs in the enclosures, wearing Christmas hats and it’s always a really fun day with everyone in good spirits.”
“Although we won’t be with our families on Christmas Day, the animals have become a second family to us, so it still feels special even though we are working. And, we’ll usually treat ourselves to an elaborate meal of shop-bought turkey sandwiches!”