Shropshire Zoo delights animals with pumpkins ahead of Halloween
They were donated by a local pumpkin farm for the spooky season
Animals at a Shropshire zoo have been pictured enjoying a halloween themed treat.
Those at Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World have been enchanted by a generous donation of pumpkins from Little Wytheford Farm in Shropshire.
The zoo’s animals ranging from lemurs to cockatoos and wolves to meerkats have been showing their curiosity at the autumnal fruits after the pumpkins were placed in their habitats as part of the zoo’s animal enrichment programme.
The seasonal ‘enrichment’ allows the animals to explore and engage with the pumpkins, creating a lively and interactive experience for both the animals and zoo visitors.
The world-famous Cinnamon, the capybara, who made worldwide headlines after escaping from her enclosure last month seemed a lot less impressed with the pumpkins than her twin brother, Churro.
The European Wolves have displayed their playful side by wrestling with the pumpkins, while the cockatoos have been observed using their pumpkins as new vantage points, enhancing their environment, before tucking in to them as a tasty snack.
Will Dorrell, the owner of the Zoo said: "Our pumpkin donation from Little Wytheford Farm is a wonderful addition to the zoo and has provided a real pop of seasonal colour across our animal habitats and we’re really grateful to the team at the farm for thinking of us.”
“Most importantly, the pumpkins provide a great opportunity for us to offer enrichment to our animals that promotes natural behaviors such as exploring new sights, tastes, colors and smells. Some of our animals tucked straight in to the pumpkins, seeing them as a tasty snack, whereas our European Wolves could be seen picking them up in their mouth before eventually destroying them.”