Santa ‘Claws’ has come to town early, bringing animals at the National Zoo & Aquarium some delicious, nutritious, and entertaining presents.
Earlier this morning, Friday 23 December, the residents of the otter, bear, giraffe, and avian enclosures were greeted with brightly wrapped packages.
“Christmas Day is the only day the zoo is shut during the year, so we like Santa Claus to come early for our animals,” says Jemma Walsh from the National Zoo & Aquarium. “As much as we love to celebrate Christmas, they do too. It is really good enrichment for them.”
Some of the creatures were excited, while others were slightly more cautious of the colourful boxes. The otter colony eagerly waited for the fence to be opened so they could dive into their gifts to fish out morish seafood treats.
Malaysian sun bears Otay and Arataki were greeted by two beautiful gifts each, containing pumpkins and one of their favourite treats, nuts. Otay wasted no time ripping open her presents, while Arataki was a little slower, more interested in the feed on the ground. Like any good life partner, Otay gave Artataki a hand opening his gifts.
However, both the giraffes and the avian communities were a bit more hesitant when approaching their presents. We are assured they will be more interested when no one is watching. With so many animals residing at the zoo, it is going to take Santa time to get to all the enclosures.
“Pretty much every animal will get something over the next few days, whether that is a special treat a special food, box, a toy, whatever that might be,” Ms Walsh said.
The dingoes and primates are set to receive more than a snack: perhaps a chew toy like a domestic dog would get, or a puzzle feeder to solve. As the animals can’t write their own wish list to Santa – most of them don’t have thumbs to hold a pen – the correspondence has to be done through their carers.
“The keepers get to make a choice about what they think their animals will most interact with and we go from there,” Ms Walsh said.
Visit creatures big and small at the National Zoo & Aquarium Canberra between 9:30am and 5pm, any day of the year, except for Christmas Day: nationalzoo.com.au
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